Team-mates Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team RC213V) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC213V) aim to finish 2015 on a high at Valencia this Sunday with a fourth consecutive MotoGP victory. The Spanish pair have dominated the last three races – Pedrosa winning in Japan and Malaysia, Marquez coming out on top in Australia – and have high hopes of scoring their first one-two since July’s German Grand Prix.

Both men have winning form at Valencia, MotoGP’s traditional season-ending event, which can attract a weekend crowd exceeding 200,000. All tickets for this year’s race – where the MotoGP and Moto3 titles will be decided – were sold out well in advance.

Reigning MotoGP king Marquez won last year’s Valencia race, beating current title-leader Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) by 3.5 seconds. The 22-year-old also won the 2012 Valencia Moto2 race, despite starting from the back row of the grid.

Marquez has had an up-and-down 2015 season, with five victories so far, plus several crashes which have spoiled his push towards an historic title hat-trick. In Malaysia two weeks ago the former 125cc and Moto2 World Champion crashed out following a controversial collision with Rossi, for which the Italian was punished by Race Direction. He is currently third overall.

Thirty-year-old Pedrosa won his first Valencia Grand Prix more than a decade ago when he won the 2002 125cc race. In 2004 and 2005 he won the 250cc race and in 2007, 2009 and 2012 he won the MotoGP race. The former 125cc and 250cc World Champion missed three of the first four rounds of this year’s series to undergo surgery for arm-pump. His victories at Twin Ring Motegi and Sepang were the much-deserved reward for his determination to regain full strength and to fight once again at the very highest level. This weekend Pedrosa aims to secure fourth overall; not bad for someone who was 15th overall after the first five races.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda RC213V) has also shown improving form at recent races with four consecutive finishes inside the top seven and an excellent ride to fifth place at Sepang a fortnight ago. The Briton holds eighth overall with one race to go of his first MotoGP season with Honda. Like many riders he will be looking forward to the first pre-2016 season tests which take place at Valencia next Wednesday and Thursday.

Sunday will be the last time Scott Redding (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda RC213V) races his RC213V. The Briton will switch brands for next season but nonetheless will be going all out to finish 2015 on a high. Redding hasn’t found the going easy this season but he will always have one treasured memory from 2015 – a first MotoGP podium at September’s dry/wet/dry San Marino Grand Prix.

Honda’s 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden (Aspar Team Honda RC213V-RS) is another rider who will seek new adventures next season, although the American is changing championships rather than brands. Hayden came to MotoGP in 2003 after winning the US Superbike title for Honda. He spent eight of his 12 seasons in MotoGP with the company and next year will contest the World Superbike championship with the officially backed Ken Tate Honda team. This weekend the 34-year-old will start his 215th MotoGP race at the track where he sealed the 2006 title.

Hayden is currently the second best-placed rider on Honda’s Open spec machine, the RC213V-RS; just one point ahead of impressive rookie Jack Miller (LCR Honda RC213V-RS). There’s every chance that the veteran and the newcomer will go head-to-head on Sunday to decide who finishes top Open Honda rider of 2015.

MotoGP rookie Eugene Laverty (Aspar Team Honda RC213V-RS) is another rider changing manufacturers after Sunday’s race, during which he will take aim at a fifth points-scoring ride on his RC213V-RS. Fourth man on the Open Honda is Australian Ant West (AB Motoracing Honda RC213V-RS) who is once again substituting for injured regular Karel Abraham.

Valencia hosted its first Grand Prix in 1999. The Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo – named after Spain’s double 50cc World Champion – is a tight, technical and very asymmetric racetrack, dominated by left-handers, which places very different demands on the left and right sides of the tyres. Machine priorities are agile handling for the many changes of direction and edge grip – Valencia packs 14 corners into just 4.005km/2.489 mile.

Honda has enjoyed considerable success at Valencia, with four different riders winning the elite class on RCV machinery: Alex Barros (2002), Valentino Rossi (2003), Marco Melandri (2005), Pedrosa (2007/2009/2012), Casey Stoner (2011) and Marquez (2014).



Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

“It’s been a difficult week after what happened in Sepang but I’ve tried my best to put it behind me and concentrate on my training and looking forward to the final race of the season. We want to finish on a high note so we will work hard from Friday to get the bike set-up and give ourselves the best chance for the race. I’ve had mixed results here in the past but I enjoy racing here in front of the home fans. I hope the events of the past week can be put behind us and we can focus on the race.”

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team

“It’s been a great but tiring few weeks. We’ve worked hard and won two races and this is something I couldn’t have imagined in Qatar at the beginning of the year. Now we arrive in Valencia for the final race of 2015 and it would be great to finish with another victory. I’ve had good results here in the past so I hope to be able to put on a good show in front of all the Spanish fans and fight for the win.”

Cal Crutchlow, LCR Honda

“To come into the last race from three flyaway races where we got three good results is never a bad thing. We have shown we can still fight and be competitive, in and around the top six. Now we concentrate on Valencia where we will look into why we had some problems in Sepang. I’ve had some good results at Valencia in the past and you can bet that I’ll be trying my absolute hardest to finish the season well.”

Scott Redding, Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS

“If I could choose a circuit at which to end the season it wouldn’t be Valencia, as it’s always proved a difficult track for me. But it’s the same for everyone so we just need to knuckle down and work hard to make sure we go into FP3 on Saturday morning with the pace to push for an automatic entry into Q2. This is important, as the soft tyre will be an advantage on a track as small and tight as Valencia, so we don’t want to find ourselves having to fight against the open class bikes in Q1. It’s the last race of the season, and my last appearance for Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS, so it would be good to go out on a high note with a top ten finish this weekend.”

Jack Miller, LCR Honda

“I’m looking forward to racing in normal conditions again in Valencia after all the heat and humidity in Malaysia. I’ve been working on my style in the past two races and Valencia will be good to see how far I’ve moved on from when I first tested a MotoGP bike there this time last year. I quite like the track, I won the Moto3 race there last year. The aim is to finish the season as strongly as possible, both for myself and the team.”

Nicky Hayden, Aspar Team

“Valencia is going to be an emotional weekend, that’s for sure! Sepang was quite difficult for us and our bike. I had a lot of moments with the front but I hope Valencia can be better. On paper it could be difficult for us because it’s a tight track but I obviously have some good memories of going there, so I’ll be focusing on getting a strong result to end the year and my time with the team well.”

Eugene Laverty, Aspar Team

“The last two tracks have been difficult for us. We struggled to find rear grip at Phillip Island and it was so hot in Malaysia that it felt like we were riding on ice. I think Valencia should be better. It will be cooler there and I quite like the layout of the track, even if it is quite slow and full of tight corners. We tested there last November with this bike so we won’t be starting completely from scratch on Friday morning. I’ll be looking to score a positive result in our final race with Honda.”

Ant West, AB Motoracing

“I’m really happy that I get one more chance to try a MotoGP bike. Valencia is like a big go-kart circuit. You never get time to rest. You’re always turning. It’s tight and twisty for a MotoGP bike. I’ve had some good races there in the past on a Moto2 bike but I reckon it will be completely different to Sepang and Phillip Island. At those tracks it’s wide open with fast corners. Valencia is usually a bit colder, but I hope it will be better for us. The front end of the machine seems to be quite good and you certainly need that stability around Valencia. You need the front to turn. The Honda seems to have plenty of grip on the front, so I’m hoping we can make it work.”