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Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) claimed the final MotoGP victory of 2018 at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana finish ahead of Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in a hugely dramatic two-part race - the red flags coming out after 14 laps as heavy rain fell, with several riders crashing out of contention, including World Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) – riders okay.

In ‘Race 1’, from second on the line, Alex Rins (Team Ecstar Suzuki) got the holeshot and produced a stunning opening lap – the Spaniard 1.7 ahead as the field crossed the line, with Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) getting a good start in P2, before Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) used the Desmosedici grunt to get by on the straight. Meanwhile, Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) had got off to a flyer from P6, getting the better of Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and Viñales but it was all about Rins – the Suzuki decimating the field to lead by over three seconds after three laps.

However, the rain was relentless and track conditions were deteriorating, leading to several crashes. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) were both fallers at Turn 3, before drama then happened at the front. Espargaro crashed out of P4 at Turn 3, he was able to re-join, with 2018 World Champion Marquez then crashing on the same lap – Turn 9 the corner, with the Spaniard thankfully walking away without looking in too much pain with his shoulder. However, the seven-time Champion was unable to remount.  

After a chaotic couple of laps, Rossi was now sitting in P3 behind race leader Rins – whose lead was now 2.2 – and Dovizioso, with teammate Viñales in hot pursuit of ‘The Doctor’. But then, on lap 13, Viñales suffered a huge crash at Turn 13 as the rain continued to hammer down – rider okay, with Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) also crashing on the same lap at Turn 8 – the Italian out of a career-best P5.

It was nothing but a race of attrition at this point as Bradley Smith (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) then crashed but Dovi and Rossi were closing in on Rins, the gap now down to nothing. The duo then got the better of Rins after the Spaniard was wide at Turn 11 but as the leaders crossed the line, ‘DesmoDovi’ raised his hand and the race was red-flagged on lap 14.

With three-quarter race distance not completed, a 14-lap race was scheduled with only the riders who were classified on lap 13 allowed to re-start, with their positions on lap 13 deciding the order of the grid. A quick re-start procedure was announced and pitlane was open at 15:00 local time for 60 seconds as the 16 riders made their way to the grid – Rins on pole, Dovi P2, Rossi P3 and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) P4 on his swansong ride.

The front row held station as the lights went out for ‘Race 2’ and all 16 riders safely negotiated the opening exchanges, with Rins leading. However, Dovizioso was once again able to get the power down on his GP18 to power past Rins heading onto lap 2 – Rossi in close pursuit. The three leaders quickly gapped fourth place Espargaro by 2.9, Pedrosa tucked in behind the KTM in P5.

The rain was once again starting to fall and conditions were still incredibly treacherous as the leading trio were all in the low 1:43s – two seconds quicker than anyone else as it soon became a three horse race for the final win of 2018.

On lap 6, Dovizioso pulled the pin to create a one-second gap back to Rins – a 1:49.921 creating that gap, with 1.5 now splitting the trio. Another fastest lap then followed for Dovi, as Rossi made his move past Rins at Turn 4 – 1.5 the gap to his compatriot with eight to go. However, with six to go, the gap was up to 2.4 and a lap later, Dovizioso’s lead was over three seconds. But then, ‘The Doctor’ was down at Turn 12 – rider okay, lifting Espargaro and KTM up to a podium place.

Everyone held firm and it was last lap time; Dovi’s advantage was four seconds to Rins as both crossed the line to take fantastic season-ending results with Espargaro keeping Michele Pirro (Ducati Team) at bay to take his and KTM’s maiden MotoGP podium – phenomenal from rider and factory alike.

Moto2

In his 50th Moto2 race, Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) produced a faultless ride to take his third victory of the season in the 2018 finale at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana. The Portuguese rider won by an impressive 13 second margin over first-time podium finisher Iker Lecuona (Swiss Innovative Investors), as Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) completed the podium – despite crashing out the lead.

Straight away in the last race of the season, drama. Before the race had begun, Fabio Quartararo (HDR Heidrun -  Speed Up) had an issue on the grid which saw him start from the back. Then, just after the lights went out, poleman Luca Marini’s (Sky Racing Team VR46) front end washed away under braking at Turn 2; the Italian hitting the back of teammate Francesco Bagnaia – the latter staying on but running wide – while further back, the exact same happened to Joan Mir (EG 0,0 Marc VDS). The Spaniard went down, with Mir himself then collecting Lorenzo Baldassarri (Pons HP40) as the pair followed Marini into the gravel and out of the race.

After a busy opening handful of laps, we were then eventiually left with Oliveira at the front and the top four consisting the Portuguese rider, Marquez, Xavi Vierge (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Lecuona in a class of their own – the only riders lapping in the 1:48s. It was Marquez who soon took over the baton at the front though, and the Spaniard then upped the pace, putting in consecutive fastest laps in the 1:47s to give himself a 1.5 second buffer over Oliveira with 10 laps gone.

Lap 12 ticked by and it was another fastest lap for Marquez, a 1:47.342 edging the gap to Oliveira to almost two seconds, with Vierge a further two seconds behind the KTM rider at this stage. That was until the Spaniard lost the front at Turn 8 while under pressure from Lecuona, the latter now up to P3, but Lecuona soon ran well wide at Turn 14 and dropped to eight seconds off the lead.

At the front, Oliveira and Marquez exchanged fastest laps at the mid-stage, the gap fluctuating between 1.5 and 2.0 seconds. But then, on Lap 15, Marquez suddenly crashed. Turn 14 was the corner but - such was the advantage the leaders had - the Spaniard was able to remount and rejoin the race in P3, still on for a podium and just ahead of Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team). It did, however, leave Oliveira in control of the race, with an 8.5 second gap between him and second place Lecuona.

From there on, the 2018 Moto2 runner-up kept his cool to stride home for his third win of the season, taking the chequered flag by over 13 seconds back to Lecuona but the Spaniard earning a fantastic maiden Grand Prix podium. After the crash, Marquez was also able to salvage the podium, with Pasini taking a commendable P4 on what could prove his final Grand Prix race.

Fifth place went to Tech 3 Racing’s Remy Gardner, the Australian’s career-best result after he got the better of the recovering Quartararo, who took a phenomenal P6. After starting from the front row, Marcel Schrötter (Dynavolt Intact GP) crossed the line in P7, while it was a home race top ten finish for Augusto Fernandez (Pons HP40) in P8. Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) and Simone Corsi (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) rounded out the top ten in the final Moto2™ race of the season. Meanwhile, 2018 Champion Bagnaia clawed his way to P14 on his final Moto2™ ride after getting caught up in the drama at Turn 2 early on.

Khairul Idham Pawi (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), Xavi Cardelus (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2), replacement rider Tommaso Marcon (HDR Heidrun – Speed Up), Sam Lowes (Swiss Innovative Investors), a super fast Joe Roberts (NTS RW Racing GP), Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Brad Binder, Jorge Navarro (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and a charging Niki Tuuli (Petronas Sprinta Racing) also crashed out – rider ok.

A dramatic final Honda-powered Moto2 race of the year ends with Oliveira ending his intermediate class career on a high, while also ensuring Red Bull KTM Ajo are the Moto2™ 2018 Team Champions. Oliveira ran Bagnaia close – nine points the final margin – as the two now move to MotoGP™. So who will be the ones to watch at the beginning of a brand-new Triumph powered era in 2019?

Moto3

It didn't seem like a day for history to be made when the Circuit Ricardo Tormo began to wake up to a rain-soaked Sunday. It seemed like a day to endure, to be cautious; to take the points and not the risk. It seemed a day more likely to be defined by attrition rather than heroics, but Can Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) ensured it becomes much more than that. Taking his first win as a wildcard, in his first appearance, at 15 years and 115 days old, the Turkish rider is the youngest ever Grand Prix winner, the first rider to win his first race since Noboru Ueda in the 125 race in Japan in 1991, and the first Grand Prix winner from the Asia Talent Cup. If that wasn't enough, he did it in some serious style - crossing the line four seconds clear of reigning Champion Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) in second and another two ahead of John McPhee (CIP - Green Power).

It was Tony Arbolino (Marinelli Snipers Team) who took the holeshot from pole, although Marco Bezzecchi (Redox PruestelGP) looked threatening in second as McPhee lost a place and Öncü sliced through into third. Soon the Turk was also starting to threaten Bezzecchi as Arbolino started to make an early gap in the wet conditions, but the number 12 started to pull away again initially - until drama struck. Suddenly sliding out early, the former title contender was down and out of contention, with Arbolino left over two seconds clear of Öncü.

McPhee was then in third, leading Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) and teammate Martin as both Gresini riders made top starts, but the duo were soon past the Scot although the trio remained close. Then there was more drama up ahead and all eyes switched back to the front as Arbolino suddenly highsided out - having been over six seconds clear. Who did that leave in the lead? Debutant, wildcard and imminently impressive Öncü, nursing his own lead - and then starting to increase it.

Soon Martin was past Diggia and McPhee followed suit, but it remained the Turk's to lose and behind the front few the gaps became even bigger. Nervous faces down at Red Bull KTM Ajo watched the laps tick down towards history being made and records being broken, but Öncü held firm and stayed calm - until a huge wobble on the final lap...

That saw the reigning Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Champion immediately back off, with time in his pocket to play it safe. Crawling round the Circuit Ricardo Tormo for the final time, he eventually crossed the line four seconds clear for his first Grand Prix win, taking his place in history.

Martin took second in his only lightweight class race as reigning Champion, followed by McPhee in third after another impressive performance in the wet from the Scot. 'Diggia' ended the year and his Moto3™ career just off the podium but snatched second overall from Bezzecchi, with Enea Bastianini (Leopard Racing) just behind in fifth. Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubia) wrapped up the Rookie of the Year title by taking sixth after his rival for that crown - Dennis Foggia (Sky Racing Team VR46) - didn't finish, with youth getting ahead of experience as Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) took P7. Nakarin Atiratphuvapat (Honda Team Asia), who leaves the paddock for pastures new next season, took his best ever finish in eighth after a stunning race and impressive weekend, with Marcos Ramirez (Bester Capital Dubai) and Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) completing the top ten.

Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse), Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0), Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) crashed out together in some early drama, and Darryn Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was another early faller. Bezzecchi ended his lightweight class career with two crashes in tough conditions, and teammate Jakub Kornfeil almost went down but was able to rejoin, taking the last point on offer in P15.

A new era now begins for many on the grid after a classic, goosebump-creator of a season finale. The Martins and Bezzecchis of the Championship move on to Moto2™ and the rookies and newcomers become the experienced runners, but the race leaves most with the distant sound of the Jaws theme after Öncü's debut: the Turk becomes a full time rider next season - and he's already a Grand Prix winner and a record breaker.