STEFAN BRADL WINS 2011 MOTO2 CHAMPIONSHIP

Pole starter Michele Pirro claimed his first ever GP win at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, crossing the line over six seconds ahead of Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing) who also scored his first podium of the season. The victory for the Gresini Team's Moto2 rider was a fitting tribute to their late MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli, and was a welcome finish to an emotional weekend.

Pirro's Gresini team mate, Yuki Takahashi, joined him on the front row of the grid and started well, holding the lead until lap five when he highsided in the slippery conditions. New Moto2 Champion Bradl also crashed out early. With Pirro inheriting the lead from Takahashi on lap six, the battle for second was on between Kallio, Yonny Hernandez (Blusens-STX) and Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP). Behind Pirro, Kallio claimed second ahead of the Swiss rider Aegerter when Hernandez ran off the track four laps from the finish.

Behind the leaders, Australia's Anthony West (MZ Racing) was battling hard with Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2), Kenny Noyes (Avintia-STX) and Xavier Simeon (Tech 3 B). In greasy conditions caused by intermittent drizzle across the circuit, West eventually triumphed, passing both Hernandez and Di Meglio on the final lap to take fourth, ahead of American Noyes in fifth. The result equalled West's best result of fourth in the Dutch TT at Assen earlier in the season.

Hernandez returned to the track and took sixth, with Mike di Meglio (Tech 3 Racing) seventh ahead of Simeon. Max Neukirchner (MZ Racing) and Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) completed the top ten. Andrea Iannone (Speed Master) crossed the line 11th to claim third place in the Championship, beating De Angelis who followed the Italian across the line in 12th.

On the podium, Bradl joined the placegetters as the 2011 Moto2 champion, and unveiled a flag attributing the championship to Marco Simoncelli. Both Bradl and Marc Marquez, the star of the latter half of the season, have confirmed they will return to the Moto2 series for 2012.

2011 Moto2 World Championship
GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana