12,15 local time saw the final 250cc race not only of the 2009 season, but ever in the World Championship. The title was at stake, but also the bragging rights of ending the series’ run and putting oneself in the history books as the final winner. Héctor Barberá took a popular home win, although the fight was amongst the frontrunners with everything to play for. The title went to Hiroshi Aoyama despite not placing on the podium courtesy of a crash for Marco Simoncelli. Barberá and Álvaro Bautista made it a Spanish one-two, adding to Julián Simón’s win in 125cc and Dani Pedrosa’s in MotoGP.

Mapfre rider Álvaro Bautista was keen to not let down the fans gathered at his final home race in the support classes, especially with it being the last ride for 250cc racing machinery. The Spaniard was ninth on the grid after a tough qualifying session, but was confident in having a good race. He moved his way up the field progressively, taking third place n the fifth lap, before looking out for victory. Problems with the rear end f his Aprilia made things complicated, but Bautista was able to combat adversity sufficiently to claim second place as he crossed the 250cc finish line for the final time. Second in Jerez and the winner in Barcelona, Bautista completed a trilogy of home podium finishes with this latest result. He leaves the class behind with the satisfaction of having contested a memorable season.

2nd Álvaro Bautista: “I would have liked to have finished the year with a win but, bearing in mind the conditions that we were facing today, second is not a bad result. The wind was taking me off-track constantly, making it difficult to stick to my braking points. Yesterday we had some problems in the practice sessions, and this morning we went back to a setting that I preferred. In the warm up we were faster than we were on Saturday, so I knew that I could be up at the front. The only doubt that I had was whether the rear tyre would last the whole race. It may have gone off slightly ahead of time, and it was difficult to keep up with the guys ahead of me until the halfway point of the race. When I opened the throttle the bike started to slide. Second is nothing to be ashamed of, but obviously I would have been happier with a victory. I have spent a wonderful part of my life in the Aspar team, in which almost every moment has been good for me.”

Since Alvaro will not continue with the Aspar Team next season, he did the best he could today in Valencia to give them an appropriate farewell present with another podium finish. And not only that. If you were wondering about Alvaro’s helmet design today, it is a Jorge Martinez replica and Alvaro was paying tribute to the man who he had an excellent professional and personal relationship with over the last four seasons and who played a pivotal role in Alvaro’s quest to become the 125cc world champion in 2006 and giving him the possibility to fight for the 250cc title the last two years.
Now this exceptional relation will come to an end, but as Jorge and Alvaro both affirmed, their friendship will still go on.

Gracias, Jorge. Gracias, Alvaro.

Update: Here’s another picture of the helmet’s backside with the signature.

The final race with 250cc bikes saw the class go out with a bang as the fans at the stadium-like track were treated to an extremely exciting race with position and championship fights every corner.
Alvaro ended the year on a high note, finishing on the podium again in 2nd position while a nail-biting fight for the championship finally saw Hiroshi Aoyama deservedly take the title after Marco Simoncelli once again crashed out of the race while he was in the lead.
Although Bati wasn’t able to win the last ever 250cc race as he intended, to see him back at the front and finish the race on the podium – making it again clear that when he does finish he is always at the front – was more than great to see for team and fans alike and is a great present for his team before he will leave them for Suzuki next season.

Thank you Alvaro for another great race, well done and best of luck for your new endeavours in MotoGP. Siempre contigo!

Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1. Hector Barbera Aprilia 44m10.601s
2. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia + 3.663s
3. Raffaele de Rosa Honda + 5.665s
4. Thomas Luthi Aprilia + 5.680s
5. Ratthapark Wilairot Honda + 13.601s
6. Karel Abraham Aprilia + 13.697s
7. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda + 27.438s
8. Alex Baldolini Aprilia + 35.097s
9. Roberto Locatelli Gilera + 35.866s
10. Shoya Tomizawa Honda + 40.176s
11. Shuhei Aoyama Honda + 49.095s
12. Lukas Pesek Aprilia + 53.132s
13. Balazs Nemeth Aprilia + 1m06.014s
14. Mike di Meglio Aprilia + 1m18.692s
15. Valentin Debise Honda + 1m18.876s
16. Bastien Chesaux Aprilia + 1 lap
17. Vladimir Leonov Aprilia + 1 lap
18. William Dunlop Honda + 1 lap
19. Imre Toth Aprilia + 1 lap

Retirements:
Jules Cluzel Aprilia 23 laps
Marco Simoncelli Gilera 20 laps
Axel Pons Aprilia 19 laps
Mattia Pasini Aprilia 11 laps
Hector Faubel Honda 7 laps

Very good warmup session by Alvaro this morning, leading the way for quite a bit and ending it in second position.
Alvaro will start today’s race from second row after Alex Debon pulled out of the race due to injury.

Pos. Rider Team Lap time Gap
1 Marco SIMONCELLI Metis Gilera 1’36.568
2 Alvaro BAUTISTA Mapfre Aspar Team 1’36.783 0.215
3 Hiroshi AOYAMA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1’36.850 0.282
4 Hector BARBERA Pepe World Team 1’37.227 0.659
5 Raffaele DE ROSA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1’37.491 0.923
6 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’37.694 1.126
7 Ratthapark WILAIROT Thai Honda PTT SAG 1’37.713 1.145
8 Hector FAUBEL Honda SAG 1’38.351 1.783
9 Mike DI MEGLIO Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc 1’38.415 1.847
10 Mattia PASINI Paddock GP Racing Team 1’38.590 2.022
11 Lukas PESEK Auto Kelly – CP 1’38.612 2.044
12 Thomas LUTHI Emmi – Caffe Latte 1’38.676 2.108
13 Axel PONS Pepe World Team 1’38.744 2.176
14 Roberto LOCATELLI Metis Gilera 1’38.748 2.180
15 Alex BALDOLINI WTR San Marino Team 1’39.325 2.757
16 Shoya TOMIZAWA CIP Moto – GP250 1’39.828 3.260
17 Shuhei AOYAMA Racing Team Germany 1’39.885 3.317
18 Jules CLUZEL Matteoni Racing 1’39.970 3.402
19 Vladimir LEONOV Viessmann Kiefer Racing 1’40.581 4.013
20 Balazs NEMETH Balatonring Team 1’40.654 4.086
21 Valentin DEBISE CIP Moto – GP250 1’41.184 4.616
22 Bastien CHESAUX Matteoni Racing 1’41.685 5.117
23 William DUNLOP Bigman Racing 1’42.235 5.667
24 Imre TOTH Team Toth Aprilia 1’43.637 7.069
25 Alex DEBON Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens 4’39.186 3’02.618

Whilst the 250 riders were lucky to escape the worst wind of the day for free practice yesterday afternoon, today they endured reverse fortunes at Valencia. As in the 125cc class there was a local flavour to the top of the time sheets, as the home riders used their knowledge and experience of the track and conditions to pick up vital slipstreams that helped combat the effects of the wind.

The two Mapfre riders put on an impressive showing in this morning’s final free practice session but were unable to repeat their performance as the blustery conditions intensified in the afternoon. Álvaro Bautista experimented with a new set-up designed at giving him more rear traction on his Aprilia but the changes did not have the desired effect and he could only qualify ninth fastest.

9th Álvaro Bautista 1.37.303 (22 laps): “We tried a different setting for the afternoon because we had some traction problems this morning but it didn’t work so we went back to the original setting – unfortunately we didn’t have time to get many laps in after that. There was a lot of traffic on track at the end of the session too and I wasn’t able to improve my lap time. It means that once again we’re starting from further back than we’d like but hopefully we can have a good warm-up and gain the confidence to push hard from the start of the race. Everybody wants to win tomorrow so it will be a close race and important to stay in touch with the leaders from the start.”

Pos. Rider Team Lap time Gap
1 Alex DEBON Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens 1’36.116
2 Marco SIMONCELLI Metis Gilera 1’36.450 0.334
3 Hector BARBERA Pepe World Team 1’36.470 0.354
4 Ratthapark WILAIROT Thai Honda PTT SAG 1’36.563 0.447
5 Hiroshi AOYAMA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1’36.656 0.540
6 Thomas LUTHI Emmi – Caffe Latte 1’36.985 0.869
7 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’37.271 1.155
8 Mattia PASINI Paddock GP Racing Team 1’37.278 1.162
9 Alvaro BAUTISTA Mapfre Aspar Team 1’37.303 1.187
10 Hector FAUBEL Honda SAG 1’37.318 1.202
11 Raffaele DE ROSA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1’37.365 1.249
12 Alex BALDOLINI WTR San Marino Team 1’37.577 1.461
13 Jules CLUZEL Matteoni Racing 1’37.749 1.633
14 Roberto LOCATELLI Metis Gilera 1’37.811 1.695
15 Mike DI MEGLIO Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc 1’37.958 1.842
16 Shoya TOMIZAWA CIP Moto – GP250 1’38.085 1.969
17 Axel PONS Pepe World Team 1’38.126 2.010
18 Lukas PESEK Auto Kelly – CP 1’38.291 2.175
19 Balazs NEMETH Balatonring Team 1’38.737 2.621
20 Shuhei AOYAMA Racing Team Germany 1’38.795 2.679
21 Valentin DEBISE CIP Moto – GP250 1’39.283 3.167
22 Vladimir LEONOV Viessmann Kiefer Racing 1’40.371 4.255
23 Bastien CHESAUX Matteoni Racing 1’41.605 5.489
24 Imre TOTH Team Toth Aprilia 1’42.418 6.302

Out of limit time
33 William DUNLOP IRL Bigman Racing Honda

Pos. Rider Team Lap time Gap

1 Mike DI MEGLIO Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc 1’36.356
2 Alex DEBON Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens 1’36.568 0.212
3 Hector BARBERA Pepe World Team 1’36.583 0.227
4 Hiroshi AOYAMA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1’36.635 0.279
5 Raffaele DE ROSA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1’36.815 0.459
6 Alvaro BAUTISTA Mapfre Aspar Team 1’36.957 0.601
7 Thomas LUTHI Emmi – Caffe Latte 1’36.959 0.603
8 Marco SIMONCELLI Metis Gilera 1’37.202 0.846
9 Mattia PASINI Paddock GP Racing Team 1’37.303 0.947
10 Ratthapark WILAIROT Thai Honda PTT SAG 1’37.366 1.010
11 Shoya TOMIZAWA CIP Moto – GP250 1’37.452 1.096
12 Hector FAUBEL Honda SAG 1’37.518 1.162
13 Alex BALDOLINI WTR San Marino Team 1’37.593 1.237
14 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’37.618 1.262
15 Roberto LOCATELLI Metis Gilera 1’37.751 1.395
16 Lukas PESEK Auto Kelly – CP 1’38.154 1.798
17 Axel PONS Pepe World Team 1’38.459 2.103
18 Jules CLUZEL Matteoni Racing 1’38.692 2.336
19 Balazs NEMETH Balatonring Team 1’38.856 2.500
20 Valentin DEBISE CIP Moto – GP250 1’38.948 2.592
21 Shuhei AOYAMA Racing Team Germany 1’39.141 2.785
22 Bastien CHESAUX Matteoni Racing 1’40.843 4.487
23 Vladimir LEONOV Viessmann Kiefer Racing 1’41.115 4.759
24 William DUNLOP Bigman Racing 1’42.910 6.554

Out of limit time
10 Imre TOTH HUN Team Toth Aprilia Aprilia

The Gran Premio de la Comunidad Valenciana got underway this afternoon, with home favourites in the ascendancy as the 250cc free practice took place. Hector Barberá and Alex Debón, both from Valencia, were amongst the pacesetters – as was Mapfre rider Álvaro Bautista – with Barberá clocking the fastest time of the session as Spanish riders eclipsed the title battle taking place here this weekend between Hiro Aoyama and Marco Simoncelli.

For Bautista this race represents his last opportunity to win a race in the intermediate class before he makes the step up to MotoGP and today he took advantage of his vast testing experience at this circuit to clock 28 consistent laps, with a best time of 1’36.866 that left him third on the time sheets.

3rd Álvaro Bautista 1.36.866 (28 laps): “The conditions were a little strange today. The track surface was dirty and quite cool, so we had to ride carefully. The majority of corners here are to the left so when you flick right you can really notice the lack of grip. Anyway, as the weekend progresses I’m sure the track and the weather will both improve. I felt pretty comfortable with the front end of my Aprilia and we were able to try a few things with the rear aimed at getting more life out of the tyre. We still haven’t found the perfect combination so we’ll keep trying tomorrow. In general I’m happy with the job we’ve done and I felt comfortable out there so it’s a good start.”

A good start to the weekend for Alvaro, finishing the first practice at Valencia in 3rd position while never being outside the Top 5 during the session.

Pos. Rider Team Lap time Gap
1 Hector BARBERA Pepe World Team 1’36.185
2 Alex DEBON Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens 1’36.502 0.317
3 Alvaro BAUTISTA Mapfre Aspar Team 1’36.866 0.681
4 Hiroshi AOYAMA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1’36.924 0.739
5 Raffaele DE ROSA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1’37.099 0.914
6 Marco SIMONCELLI Metis Gilera 1’37.168 0.983
7 Hector FAUBEL Honda SAG 1’37.213 1.028
8 Mike DI MEGLIO Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc 1’37.273 1.088
9 Ratthapark WILAIROT Thai Honda PTT SAG 1’37.426 1.241
10 Thomas LUTHI Emmi – Caffe Latte 1’37.806 1.621
11 Jules CLUZEL Matteoni Racing 1’37.848 1.663
12 Mattia PASINI Paddock GP Racing Team 1’38.012 1.827
13 Alex BALDOLINI WTR San Marino Team 1’38.135 1.950
14 Lukas PESEK Auto Kelly – CP 1’38.282 2.097
15 Shoya TOMIZAWA CIP Moto – GP250 1’38.286 2.101
16 Axel PONS Pepe World Team 1’38.579 2.394
17 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1’38.655 2.470
18 Shuhei AOYAMA Racing Team Germany 1’38.682 2.497
19 Roberto LOCATELLI Metis Gilera 1’38.682 2.497
20 Balazs NEMETH Balatonring Team 1’38.821 2.636
21 Valentin DEBISE CIP Moto – GP250 1’40.108 3.923
22 Vladimir LEONOV Viessmann Kiefer Racing 1’41.110 4.925
23 Bastien CHESAUX Matteoni Racing 1’42.290 6.105

Not classified
10 Imre TOTH HUN Team Toth Aprilia Aprilia Lap

Out of limit time
33 William DUNLOP IRL Bigman Racing Honda

The Gran Premio de la Comunidad Valenciana is set to bring the curtain down on another campaign this weekend, as the MotoGP paddock unpacks and prepares to race for the final time in 2009. After a transcontinental trek to Australia and Malaysia, the series returns to European soil for the sixteenth and final round of a 250cc World Championship that is still to be decided. Hiroshi Aoyama and Marco Simoncelli will go head to head for the title on Sunday, with the Spanish riders also looking to celebrate with victory in their home round.
 
With a disappointing weekend in Malaysia now behind Alvaro heads to Valencia determined to score good results for the team in his home race. Although Bati’s title aspirations ended in a crash at Sepang but his hunger for victory is still as fierce as ever and the Spaniard is looking for a repeat of his performance in the most recent race on Spanish soil, having won at Montmeló in June. It is a final appearance in the intermediate class for the former 125cc World Champion, who moves up to MotoGP next year.

Alvaro Bautista:
“I would have liked to be going to Valencia in different circumstances this weekend but luck hasn’t been on our side for the last three races. The championship is over for me but this is my last race in the 250 class and I want to enjoy it in front of my home fans. I’ll go out there and give it everything to fight for the win. We have missed out on our main objective so now I just want to enjoy the weekend and sign off from the class in style. It is important to me to end this phase of my career with a win. Cheste holds few secrets for me because I have done so many laps there and it is one of my favourite circuits. There are no excuses and I will be giving it everything from Friday.”