Dani Pedrosa name MotoGP legend ahead of his retirement. A MotoGP image
The stars of the show take to the stage for the final time this season before testing for 2019 begins on Tuesday
Dani Pedrosa name MotoGP legend ahead of his retirement. A MotoGP image
Valencia, 18 Nov 2018: Sunday at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana saw another three incredible races to close the season, and in the evening the FIM Awards ceremony brought the curtain down on 2018 – with Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) headlining the show. Marquez received his MotoGP World Champion trophy after taking the title in style in Japan, capping off another record-breaker of a season for the Spaniard.
The 2018 Awards were hosted by Gavin Emmett, with Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta and FIM President Vito Ippolito in attendance to present the range of awards throughout the evening to all the winners this season.
Youngest ever seven-time World Champion Marquez took top billing as he received his record-breaking 2018 MotoGP™ trophy, along with Moto2™ World Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Sky Racing Team VR46) and Moto3™ World Champion Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) after their incredible seasons.
The top Independent Team rider title went to Johann Zarco, as it did in 2017 when he was a rookie, following another impressive season ahead of a new challenge in 2019. This year’s MotoGP™ Rookie of the Year award was presented to a man who also visited the stage last season but for his intermediate class successes: Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS). Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), meanwhile, was also honoured as a Legend.
In Moto2™, EG 0,0 Marc VDS rider Joan Mir – another who took to the stage in 2017 – was crowned Rookie of the Year, with Jaume Masia taking that honour in Moto3™ after a great race at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
The BMW M Award for best qualifier in the MotoGP™ class went to Marquez for the sixth year in a row, and the Tissot Pole of Poles went to Bagnaia in Moto2™ and Martin in Moto3™.
The Repsol Honda Team picked up the MotoGP™ Team world title trophy, and Honda took the MotoGP™ Constructor Title in the premier class. Kalex came out on top in Moto2™, and Honda in Moto3™.
The Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Champion Can Öncü, runner-up and twin brother Deniz Öncü and third-placed rider Xavier Artigas were honoured for their fantastic seasons in the Cup – with Can Öncü also having stunned the field and become the youngest ever Grand Prix winner earlier in the day, and as a wildcard. Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup Champion, Australian Billy Van Eerde, and inaugural British Talent Cup Champion Rory Skinner were also applauded for their seasons.
Now the page turns on another incredible season and the engines switch off – but only for a day. Then, testing for 2019 begins on Tuesday in Valencia, with a whole new year of challenges up ahead and plenty to get excited about.
