Casey Stoner has won his second world title and it is truly a great achievement, something which I'm sure, when things calm down a bit, will be seen as legendary. He wins on the new bike in its first season, after dominating the entire championship, finishing with masterly success on his home track in front of his fans. An accomplishment worthy of Valentino Rossi, of Agostini. And while it is true that the Australian did more or less the same thing in 2007 with the Ducati, back then, his superiority and his class weren't so clear - his bike and his tyres were dominant, but Rossi had been severely penalized both by his tyres and his Yamaha engines, which in that period were suffering. Phenomenal Casey, with his ninth victory and eleventh pole of 2011, always on the podium, insatiable starting on Friday of each weekend, more than a pilot, is a great artist, painting skids at 250 kilometres an hour. And he is the pilot who hands Honda the last championship in the MotoGP 800cc class before it changes to 1000cc.

It was a special day on Phillip Island also for Marco Simoncelli, who obtained his best result of the season. Second, and even if he was quite far off the lead, Simoncelli was in front of his friend and rival Andrea Dovizioso, and was in the end very happy. And even though Lorenzo was missing - in the hospital to put the ring finger of his left hand back together after it exploded in a fall during the warm-up - Pedrosa was still there and the two Italians climbed onto the podium. And De Angelis, it mustn't be forgotten, was the splendid winner of the Moto2 class, beating Bradl, who is again the leader by three points over Marquez. And with only two races left.

And Valentino? He fell again, like at Motegi. Once again again after posting the fourth best time in the warm-up, which seemed to offer some small hope. Vale had caught up with Hayden and Bautista, he was ahead of his teammate and was passing Suzuki's Spaniard and was already fifth when he lost the front-end - though the bike seemed stable in the centre of the curve - without explanation or prior notice.

Now for Number 46 there's nothing to do but wait for the winter and the new Ducati: even the prospect of going to race in Malaysia, which for him was once a party, now wipes the smile off his face.

What a race! Valentino falls on the first lap, Dovizioso and Simoncelli jump the start and are punished with a ride-through penalty, Stoner loses his brakes at the height of the action. The leader board changes constantly until Dani Pedrosa puts an end to discussion and seals his third win of 2011. Three wins for him, against Stoner's eight and Lorenzo's three. And poor Lorenzo was beaten up by the super Honda even would he could have taken advantage of Casey's ending up in the gravel.

He didn't even want to go to Motegi but Honda used the strong-arm technique to show the world that life in Japan has returned to normal, that the earthquake and the nuclear accident have not stopped the Japanese people. Normal, at the end, was only the supremacy of the largest producer of Japanese motorcycles: Honda has returned to making Hondas, and to their credit, if it isn't Stoner who wins, it's Pedrosa. And to think that it seemed the time had come for Andrea Dovizioso, who in the first phase of the race rode like the wind, then the penalty set him back and even SuperSic passed him easily at the end. But once again the two Italian lions extracted their claws and the stuff of champions, and now they know that Honda has promoted Marco and flunked Andrea, who will perhaps try to pass over to the Yamaha Tech3 team of Poncharal.

Without a doubt Ducati finished Motegi with its bones broken: Rossi on the ground immediately, Berbera a short time later, Capirossi was not even there in the aftermath of his previous flight and Hayden got just about everything wrong. The Desmosedici limps, whether it's private or official, and the only positive note in such a bleak picture was the Sunday morning warm-up, with Vale fourth, six-tenths off the fastest. Is that real progress? It would appear that the aluminium sub-frame does help somewhat, but to understand a little more we'll have to wait and see the finished complete frame. In Bologna they're working hard, and these are the months in which things will be cleared up.

The 2011 title is walking hand in hand now with Casey Stoner: his lead over Jorge, 40 points after the third place at Motegi, is huge. At this point there are those who are convinced the Australian will win it all on his home track at Phillip Island in a fortnight. It would be a party comparable to that of 2007 when, having already won his first title, the pilot who then was literally flying the Desmosedici triumphed in a race that was both beautiful and symbolic. Adriana, who didn't want to go to Japan, will be there at home.

And "bravo" to Iannone who wins in Moto2 (where Bradl loses his first place position by a point), and "bravo" also to the Frenchman Zarco who finally gets top prize in the 125cc race and keeps the championship open also in the lower cylinder category.

by Nico Cereghini

Valentino ha fatto un grosso errore, se n’è scusato appena ha potuto, non è stato perdonato. Succede, perdonare non è obbligatorio. Ma Stoner non ci ha fatto una bellissima figura.
Il GP di Spagna, seconda prova 2011, mostra una immagine su tutte: Rossi che al nono giro attacca all’interno la seconda posizione di Casey, ma è lungo, blocca l’anteriore della sua Desmosedici, finisce a terra travolgendo la Honda dell’australiano. Questa volta l’air bag non si attiva, a differenza di quanto accaduto nel volo delle prove, perché la velocità dell’impatto è molto bassa.
Poi c’è il video:  accorrono sei o sette commissari di percorso, che vedendo la Honda 27 già rialzata dal suo pilota e la Ducati 46 ancora coricata a terra, si dedicano a Valentino che sta provando a rialzarla, trascurando Stoner; quello allora li richiama a grandi gesti, e mentre la Ducati viene spinta e riprende la pista, il motore della Honda purtroppo resta muto. La fotografia successiva vede Stoner, fuori gara e arrabbiatissimo, in piedi a bordo pista; Rossi passa e il rivale lo applaude con sarcasmo. Eccessivo, direi: con tutte le cadute che Casey ha fatto in carriera, poteva ben succedere che travolgesse un collega. Se non è mai accaduto possiamo parlare di caso e di pura fortuna.
“La tua ambizione è superiore al tuo talento”. Così Stoner a Rossi, nel box HRC, a fine gara. Una frase importante, quasi una citazione letteraria. Ma un pochino fuori luogo. Rossi, più tardi, si è fatto due risate. In ogni modo, non soltanto Casey, ma anche noi tutti avremmo meritato una corsa meno traumatica. Stava uscendo un GP da antologia, con Marco Simoncelli capace di portarsi davanti a tutti, con Rossi che dal nono posto occupato alla prima curva era già risalito al terzo (quasi al secondo). E poi con Stoner in gran forma e tanti disposti a dar battaglia. Purtroppo, invece, anche Supersic poco dopo è scivolato. E nessun marshall lo ha aiutato a ripartire. Bisogna chiarire meglio, a tutti gli organizzatori, quale procedura occorre seguire, e che sia la stessa per ogni pilota.
La prima nota positiva, nella domenica di Jorge Lorenzo e Dani Pedrosa, è che Valentino ha ancora una grossa motivazione a vincere. E’ sempre lui, è ancora il combattente che conosciamo, ed è una bella verifica. E questo significa che verranno tempi migliori e la Ducati diventerà la moto che gli piace. Chi era pessimista, forse adesso lo è molto meno. La seconda nota positiva è che Marco Simoncelli è un vincente e molto presto lo potrà dimostrare. Ma l’avete visto con che sicurezza andava a prendersi la gara? Purtroppo asfalto e gomme hanno condannato anche il romagnolo di Gresini. La terza bella nota è che Andrea Iannone è il leader nella classifica della Moto2; ha vinto a Jerez dopo il secondo posto di Losail, e dunque è una bella certezza.
Aspettiamo l’Estoril, adesso. E’ molto lontano, troppo. Ma chissà che questa lunga pausa non diventi un vantaggio per Valentino e la Ducati.