One of the biggest contentious issues that took place in 2011 was the introduction of blown diffusers. This was a method by which the exhaust gases continued to flow when the engine is on overrun, exiting ahead of the rear diffuser giving additional down force for the corner where there would normally be a minimal amount due to the reduced speed of the car.

The FIA has in its rules for 2012 outlawed the use of blown diffusers and also has placed restrictions on the positioning of the exhaust with the last 100mm being straight and round in section and at an angle to the vertical between 10 and 30 degrees. This is to stop the spaghetti like exhausts of last year as well as some flattening the pipe to affect a wide discharge of the exhaust gases to create the down force over the diffuser. The rule also states that there should be only one exit on either side of the car and that it shall fall between certain points.

It is interesting to see the designs that the different teams have made to minimise the loss of the down force and the results that will be seen in the first race. No matter how many hours of trials and tests in the simulator that the engineers and drivers have, as there is restricted testing on the track, there is nothing like the results from the physical battle of a race.

The general consensus of the teams is to use the bodywork in such a way that the exhaust gases attaches to airflow and sticks to the body creating down force. This is known as the Coanda effect. As the surfaces curve away from the flow of air, low pressure builds, which in turn forces the air to stay attached and in contact with the surfaces, creating the desired down force. Some teams, Red Bull and McLaren have the airflow passing between the wheels and the diffuser whereas others, Ferrari, Lotus and Williams, direct the air towards the centre of the car and over the suspension to boost the rear down force.

In addition to utilising the Coanda effect some teams have also modified their suspension components to be aerodynamically influenced by the airflow from the newly positioned exhausts. This system was utilised by Williams in the 1994 season but was subsequently banned. However, Red Bull has used the rules to best affect requiring no more than 3:5 section profiles of thickness to width. It will be interesting to see who has the best solution and who copies whom.

Rule changes – lower nose

The other major change to the cars in 2012 is the FIA requirement to reduce the height of the nose. This has been put in place primarily to lessen the chance of a car’s nose intruding into the cockpit of another in the event of a side-on collision.

The height immediately ahead of the cockpit remains the same at 625mm above the plain but within 150mm it has to drop to 550mm. This means that several of the cars have used a step making them look a little like duck bills. McLaren seem to be the only manufacturer that has resorted to a smooth transition making their cars look more like the traditional racing car from other classes.

Some of the cars have in their new design introduced ducts ostensibly to cool the driver, as per Red Bull and Sauber but others have chosen to question this as there could be an aerodynamic advantage. Perhaps there will be some challenges in the time to come, particularly if they seem to have a speed advantage. Mercedes has developed frontal intakes whereas Red Bull has it in the step perhaps to disguise the reason that directs air through channels to the front wing to speed up airflow beneath it, this creating an F duct-style down force generator. There have already been challenges made and complaints to the FIA with regards to Mercedes with no outcome at the moment.

Other items

The use of helium in wheel guns has been banned. This is for safety reasons as well as a cost cutting. The result is that the time taken with changing a wheel is slightly longer than previously.

Tyre compounds have been changed by Pirelli to introduce a softer than soft compound in order to make it more difficult for the driver to keep the tyres operating efficiently and not losing grip. Pirelli believes that the result will be more pit stops. Pirelli has also increased the signage and density of the colours on the tyre to allow spectators to identify more easily which compound the driver is using. There had been some confusion with the colour white and colour silver on last year’s tyres.

Drivers will now be only allowed to move once whilst defending their line into a corner and must also allow one car width on the inside of the corner. They also will be able to un-lap themselves whilst under a Safety Car. This allows the leaders to commence racing when the Safety Car goes in without any interference from back markers.

We can look forwards to an interesting season and with the pre-season test results it may be closer than last year with Red Bull running away and everybody trying to catch up.

The beginning of a new season is always interesting and in particular for the past three years due to the ban on testing except for specific times, if the cars were not good, like McLaren last year, they are always in catch up mode.  The contenders had all redesigned cars due to the major changes in the height to the nose of the car and also the banning of the blown diffuser using exhaust gasses.

With the first practice the new cars showed that there would be strong challenges to the Red Bull supremacy of last year, in particular the McLarens and Mercedes being strong. The first major casualty in Q1 was the 6^th world champion in the event, Kimi Raikkonen in his Lotus. He had been caught out on the harder tyres and did not provide a quick enough time to get into Q2 or Q3 and ended in 17^th place on the grid. Both the HRT’s were not allowed to start as they were not within 107 per cent of the pole.

The McLarens were supreme in their strategy and took the front row with Hamilton first and Button in second spot. Third place was a surprise with Romain Grosjean in his Lotus which made it even more disappointing for Raikkonen’s mistake with tyres. The other major disappointment was the Ferrari team whose cars did not perform particularly well. Alonso managed only 12^th and Massa 16^th.

With the rush to the first bend Button in 2^nd place managed to outsprint his team mate and pulled away into the lead with Schumacher in his Mercedes in 3^rd and Alonso having one of his demon starts and up into 8^th place on the first lap. The concertina effect at the first corner caused contact with several cars and Hulkenberg in the Force India retiring. On the next lap Maldonado, who doing well from his 8^th place at the start, came into contact with Grosjean finishing his race with broken suspension, a disappointment after such a great qualifying position.

On lap 10 Vettel pushing hard on Schumacher made a mistake on the first bend running wide with Alonso catching. However he managed catch up and the very same bend on the next lap Schumacher had a gearbox problem causing him to go straight on allowing Vettel to pass. Returning to the pits he retired with gearbox problems. One of the other big gains was Raikkonen who was up into 6^th place showing all his skills that made him world champion and getting fastest lap up to that point. If only he had started in a better qualifying position we could have had all 6 champions battling with each other.

Pit stops started at the 12 lap stage with the Ferraris but the other main contenders pitted on lap 17. Webber on new rubber produced fastest lap passing back markers. The Caterhams and Marussias were keeping out of the way most of the time but the Saubers, Force Indias and Toro Rossos were mixing it and making things difficult whilst racing each other. Maldonado in the Williams was doing particularly well.

On lap 35 Petrov had a steering problem bringing out the safety car to allow the Caterham to be cleared from the start finish line. The McLarens had pitted for new rubber but Vettel had not but was able to push and then to pit before the safety car was in position and thereby able to gain a place ahead of Hamilton. Button remained in first but had lost his buffer of 10sec. On recommencement he was able to pull away and everybody was jousting for their finishing places.

Unfortunately Massa’s terrible weekend did not improve and he had to retire with accident damage on lap 46 after hitting Bruno Senna. He went wide on a corner and the two cars appeared to be locked together as the Ferrari pushed the Williams off the track. Massa retired and Senna was able to continue for a further six laps before retiring.

The first Grand Prix of the year ended with Button in 1^st followed by Vettel and Hamilton. Webber was able to finish a good 4^th and Alonso was excellent in 5^th as was Raikkonen in 7^th after Kobayashi did one of his banzai moves to take 6th. Unfortunately Rosberg had to slow at the end with a loss of tyre pressure and finished 12^th after being as high as 6^th. Perez and Ricciardo both had outstanding drives for 8^th and 9^th but di Resta was disappointing in the Force India for the last point place, 10^th. The last four were fighting hard crossing the line abreast. Unfortunately Maldonado had an accident on the last lap whilst running in 6^th place after a great race.

The season just begun is looking good and we shall see how they fair with the fast circuit in Malaysia next weekend.

Qualifying was quite special with Vettel maintaining his supremacy with his 15^th pole of the season and beating the previous record held by Nigel Mansell. Webber was consistent with getting second followed by Button, outperforming his teammate Hamilton. Rosberg did well in 6^th place just behind Alonso and outperforming his teammate, Michael Schumacher, yet again.

The start was dry and sunny although showers were in the area. Vettel as usual sped away from pole followed by Webber who was under pressure from Button who was being attacked by Alonso who had made another of his demon starts and passed Hamilton. Rubens Barrichello, who lives near the circuit, had a terrible start from 12^th position. He bogged down and was overtaken by many from the lower levels and ended up in 19^th position. A shame for such an experienced driver in his 19^th year in Formula 1 and may not have a seat for next year.

At the start of lap 3 Vettel was powering away and over 2secs in the lead from Webber with Button a further 3 secs behind with Alonso pushing hard using his DRS to attempt an unsuccessful overtake on Button. It was expected to be a 2 stop race, depending upon the weather, with first pit stops around lap 20 or 22. However the tyres seemed to be going off quicker than expected and first stops were made by mid runners on lap 15.

Interesting fights were going on all the way down the field and on lap 10 Schumacher slip streaming Senna along the pit straight overtakes but they both touch and then as they go into the first bend Senna doesn’t leave space and they contact again with his front wing being damaged and Schumacher having to pit with a puncture – not happy. The Stewards review the action and penalise Senna with a drive through for causing an avoidable accident.

On lap 15 Vettel was told to short shift on 2^nd and 3^rd gears as there was a problem and avoid using all the torque and revs to 18,000. Button pitted for tyres on lap 16 followed by Alonso the next lap with Vettel leaving it to lap 18.  By lap 21 Vettel had caught Massa, who was in the lead on a two stop strategy, and using his DRS he passed Massa, who decided to pit at the end of the lap, coming out into 6^th place. Mark Webber was catching Vettel and clocked fastest lap on lap 23. The first retirement was Timo Glock who left his pit without the left rear fully attached and consequently the wheel came off and his Virgin car was out. The Stewards made it known that they would review the problem after the race which means that the team may be fined for unsafe release.

On lap 26 there was another radio message to Vettel that there is a serious problem and to short shift his gears on all corners. This was allowing Webber to catch and on lap 28 another message was sent telling him in code to allow Webber past. Maldonado spun into the tyre wall on turn 7 ending his race and Vettel managed to produce the fastest lap even whilst nursing his gearbox.  On lap 30 he allowed Webber to pass into the first bend. The team radioed him to care for his tyres and go as far as he could on them as rain was forecast within the next few laps.

On lap 38 a message for Hamilton informed him of a gearbox problem whilst Alonso was putting in the fastest lap of the race. Webber pitted for another set of soft tyres and came out in 2^nd place whilst Button was able to pass Massa into 3^rd using his DRS. Massa, who was trying to only do 2 stops, was also being caught by Hamilton, but after trying for over 3 laps to pass Hamilton pitted. He came out on hard tyres behind Sutil who was having a storming race in the Force India – he still has not got a contract for 2012, which may be adding a little extra effort! On lap 48 Hamilton pushing Sutil suddenly slows and pulls off the track without gears, so ending a bad year for him as well as being beaten by his teammate for the first time in any formula.

Sutil was still progressing forwards and on lap 49 attempted to pass Rosberg along the pit straight. He thought he had done the job but Rosberg braked later for the first bend on the inside and forced Sutil out. However the next lap Sutil was ready for the counter move and completed the pass successfully into 6^th place.

Webber pitted for his last se of tyres on lap 59, coming back out in the lead with Vettel coaxing his gearbox in second place. Button had second wind and was catching Alonso and for three laps they were fighting tooth and nail, side by side with Alonso making his Ferrari the biggest car on the track. They passed and re-passed several tries until finally Button got the better and passed along the back straight into turn 4 and managed to make a gap finishing in 3^rd place with Alonso 4^th.

Webber finished 1st for the first time this season and jumped Alonso into 3^rd place in the championship with Button 2^nd. Webber was also able to set fastest lap for each of the last three laps and had to be cautioned by his team to slow down. He was enjoying his moment and ‘Brilliance in Brazil’.

A great season this year with plenty of action even with the dominance of the Red Bull Team and with new regulations next year we look forwards to the teams having cars ready from the beginning of the season unlike this year when the McLarens and Ferraris only improved from half way.  The second tier teams are looking to do better next year, Mercedes, Force India, Renault, Sauber and Williams as is Team Lotus who will be renamed Caterham. They managed to finish 10^th in the Constructors Championship which means $30m to them from the FIA that will be well spent on design and aerodynamics. Money is just as important at the back of the grid as well as the front.

The start was as usual with Vettel sprinting away to the first corner followed by Hamilton but as he braked for the second corner his right rear tyre either deflated quickly or with the extra weight with full fuel tanks and tyres not up to working pressure, the tyre rolled off the rim. The result was that Vettel lost control and spun, letting Hamilton into the lead followed by Alonso, who had stormed past Webber and also elbowed his way past Button. Vettel had to travel the full 3.5 miles back to the pits with a damaged tyre that shredded itself and also damaged his suspension and other components at the rear, resulting in his first retirement since Korea last year when he had a mechanical fault in his engine. Another record for Vettel is that he had led for over 700 laps this season and over 1000 since being in Formula 1.

By lap 6 Hamilton was almost 3sec ahead with Alonso, Button and Webber following. Button was informed that he was quickest on the circuit and he was pulling away from Webber as he had broken his DRS opportunity. There were 2 zones to use the DRS this year on the two long straights to encourage overtaking, which appeared to be happening all throughout the field. Battle throughout were progressing with the middle runners fighting for position in the table. The Williams drivers had started from the rear with Barrichello having a mechanical problem, so not qualifying and Maldenaro having a 10 place penalty for using his eighth engine, whilst only seven are allowed for the season. They had managed to get up to 15^th and 16^th position by lap 10.

On lap 13 Button radioed about a problem with his KERS not working, which throws the brake balance out as well as losing 80bhp. Webber picked up speed and began circulating faster than anyone else managing to pass Button using his DRS. Button, however was having none of this and they fought wheel to through several corners with Button managing to re-pass and keep Webber at bay.

On lap 16 Hamilton pitted for a change of tyres and Alonso in the Ferrari followed suit as did Button releasing Webber into the lead. Hamilton and Alonso came out just ahead of Rosberg in 4^th. It was not until lap 17 that Webber pitted and he lost time due to a problem with his right rear in the pits. The result was that Massa took 4^th place. The next 10 laps were not very interesting except further down the field with cars in close proximity and even three abreast going into some corners. After lap 25 it got a bit more frenetic at the front as the leaders were threading their way through these lower level fights.

Button was struggling without KERS and Massa was attempting catch him and pass using his DRS on the straight, with Webber doing the same.. On lap 30 Massa gave Webber a chance when he ran wide and the two ran side by side through 2 corners with Webber letting Massa off as his brakes were giving him some issues. By lap 32 Button managed to get his KERS working again and so managed to pull away from the other two.

Battles were still continuing down the field and Di Resta, who was on a one stop strategy, had now changed to super soft option tyres and was now up to 11^th place and on lap 36 Webber, made his second stop and put on super soft tyres. This was an interesting change of strategy as it was expected for him to change to the prime tyre. Button pitted on the next lap for prime tyres and Alonso put in fastest lap did as he attempted to pick up time on Hamilton. On lap 39 Webber managed fastest lap and was catching Button in 5^th place with the 2 Mercedes in 3^rd and 4^th places.

Hamilton pitted from the lead on lap 40 as did Massa and Alonso kept going hard to pick up time with a chance to challenge Hamilton and undercut him when he stopped for prime tyres. On lap 44 he pulled into the pits but got caught behind a HRT and lost the time benefit he had built up. He came out behind Hamilton, who had a comfortable lead whilst Webber was putting in a burst with his softer tyres and managed fastest lap as he came up behind Rosberg in 3^rd place. He passed him and pulled away on the next lap.

On lap 49 Button pulled up behind Rosberg, who pitted for hard tyres and came out in 6^th place ahead of his team mate, Schumacher. Button, in 4^th position was in 4^th place, some 6secs behind Webber, who still had to pit for his prime tyres but was pushing hard on the softer compound. He was able to force Massa into an error, spinning at the end of the pit straight, and continued to real off several fastest laps. With 5 laps to go he was still only 7 secs ahead of Button and needed around 20secs for his pit stop. He was safely ahead of Massa who, due to his spin, was 25secs behind Button.

Hamilton ended up winning, after leading from the first lap and was the first since his win in Germany, eight races previously. Alonso didn’t give up and finished a credible 2^nd with 8.4secs behind with Button 26secs behind. There was lots of action throughout the race with plenty of passing with use of the two DRS zones. One wonders what could have been had the damage to Vettel’s car not happened, but we look forward to an interesting race in Brazil in two weeks, the last of the season.

Casey Stoner managed another pole position on a damp track which was the 12^th for the season, equalling Mick Doohan’s record. Danny Pedrosa managed 2^nd with Ben Spies in 3^rd on his Yamaha. There were spots of rain at the start with temperature on the greasy track 15C and air temperature at 17C.

Stoner took the lead with Pedrosa and Spies followed by Dovizioso who had jumped from the middle of the 3^rd row. However as Dovizioso was rounding the first bend he eased over and Bautista, on the Rizla Suzuki, ran into his back wheel. He had his back wheel off the ground attempting to brake with cold carbon fibre discs, but ran into Rossi and as they both crashed they also took out Hayden and De Puniet. This was a sad end to their 2011 season, especially Rossi who had had one of his worst seasons in the years of top level racing.

Stoner by lap 3 was far away in the lead and Dovizioso passed Spies followed by Pedrosa on the next bend. Three corners later Spies was able to overtake Pedrosa as well, however he out brakes himself and Pedrosa retakes 4^th place. He was keen not to let Dovizioso get away as they were both looking to be third in the Championship. On the 5^th lap Pedrosa manages to get past Dovizioso and they kept this fighting for the next ten laps even though the rain was still falling and the track slippery.

The three works Hondas were certainly giving the fans a show in difficult conditions, even with Stoner 10secs ahead. Dovizioso passed Pedrosa again on lap 14 as the rain began to come down harder. Pedrosa eased off a little but began to catch up with 12 laps to go and as Spies made an attempt on Dovizioso on corner 6 he left enough room for Pedrosa to squeeze past. On a dry track this would not have happened. Two corners later with adrenalin pumping, he passed Dovizioso as well. However as the track became more slippery he began to slow and both Dovizioso and Spies passed. The Yamaha rider was really having second wind in the tricky conditions and passed into second place and began catching Stoner.

With 5 laps to go and the rain was getting harder Stoners lead was reduced to 2.5sec as he became more cautious. Ben Spies was able to pass him with 3 laps to go when Stoner made a mistake but then Spies had no one in front of him to judge how slippery the conditions were so became somewhat cautious.

Further down the field caution was not the watch word for Cal Crutchlow and Karol Abrahams as they were fighting to be the Rookie of the Year. They kept up a race long battle with first one, then the other ahead until the last lap, when Crutchlow passes and the next corner Abrahams attempted to re-pass but the gap closed and he ran into the rear of Crutchlow and ran off the track. Crutchlow was lucky to stay upright after a wobble and finished a well-deserved 4^th and Rookie of the Year. Abrahams re-mounted and came in 8^th.

After running in second place for two laps Stoner was able to work out where he seemed to have more power out of the corners as Spies, being cautious, did not put his power on early in case his rear wheel spun away. With these thoughts on the last lap Casey took more risks on the last few corners and with the sprint to the finishing line from the last corner the power of the Repsol Honda allowed him to win in a photo finish by just 0.015secs. He is a worthy winner, his 10^th of the season and having led for most laps throughout is also a worthy World Champion for 2011. This was the last race of the season for the 800cc era and Stoner has also been the most successful rider on these bikes, mostly on Ducati and has scored 33 MotoGP victories and Next season the bikes will have 1000cc and testing will be on Tuesday and Wednesday in Valencia.

Another end of an era is the retirement of Loris Capirossi after 22 years, including three Championships one in 250cc and two in 125cc with 29 GP victories, including 9 in the Moto GP/500cc senior class. His last race was all the more poignant and sad as with the permission of Marco Simoncelli’s family he used Marco’s #58 instead of his usual #65. He managed to finish in 7^th, a creditable position considering the circumstances and a lovely tribute to Marco. As a further tribute to Marco there was a parade around the track before the events started with all riders taking part from all classes and Kevin Schwantz, the 1993 World Champion riding Marco Simoncelli’s San Carlo Honda #58. The podium with Stoner, Spies and Dovizioso also showed their respect by accepting the champagne, clinking the bottles together and not spraying it everywhere, as is the habit.

We will always remember the 2011 season as one of the most dominated by a single rider, Casey Stoner, since Rossi was in full flow and Doohan before that. It will also be remembered for the sad loss of one of the new stars and young lions, Marco Simoncelli. We look forward to the next season beginning in April on different bikes with 1000cc engines and additional teams with new young riders taking part.

Qualifying resulted in Vettel taking the first pole position in India and giving Red Bull another record of 16 pole positions in a season. Hamilton managed 2^nd but to start in 5^th with his penalty. This gave Red Bull another front row lock out with Webber alongside Vettel followed by Button and Alonso with Massa alongside Hamilton. The late qualifying runs were stopped by Massa crashing due to his breaking his right front suspension by hitting the orange secondary kerb.

The start of the race was a short uphill sprint to the first corner with Vettel taking the corner with Alonso and his demon start overcooking and Webber keeping him out. However Button was able to out manoeuvre Webber and passed him into the 3^rd corner. There was a scramble of cars lower down the field with 3 cars coming together and further contact on the 3^rd bend. This resulted in 4 cars, Perez, Glock, Barrichello and Trulli pitting for tyres and damage rectification and Kobayashi stopped at the side of the track and first retirement.

By lap 5 Vettel was nearly 5secs ahead and Webber was attempting to overtake Button with the use of his DRS and extra 15kph on the straight but Jenson kept him at bay. Eventually Webbers rear tyres lost grip and Button pulled away as well as getting fastest lap on lap 13 gradually pulling Vettel in still over 4secs ahead. Webber was now dropping back towards the 2 Ferraris of Alonso and Massa with Hamilton catching them after a very ordinary beginning to his race. There as plenty of action further down the field with the Toro Rossos’ showing some pace and also Di Resta in the Force India, who was on a different strategy by starting on the harder compound tyres hoping for a safety car to pick up places when everyone ducks in for new tyres.

On lap 17 Webber and Alonso pit together and come out just as Schumacher was approaching the first bend. Alonso was unlucky and got caught behind whilst Webber was not getting away. After a couple of laps on the new tyres Webber began to pull away and finally Alonso passed Schumacher. Button pulled in for new tyres and came out still ahead of Webber. Vetel pitted the next lap but lost a couple of seconds to Button but put in a couple of screamers with lap record again to maintain his dominance in first place.

On lap 24 we managed to have a bit of excitement with Hamilton and Massa continuing their long time feud fighting for the same piece of track. Hamilton attempted to pass on the inside of turn 3 when Massa pulled over into the McLaren. There was not enough room and both cars ran off the track with Hamilton needing a new nose and Massa with a puncture. The result after review by the Stewards was Massa given a drive through penalty for causing and accident. He was not happy! He attempted to improve his position overtaking back markers but in so doing he was cutting the corners which finally resulted in him breaking his left front suspension by hitting the hard secondary kerb, the same as in qualifying. Definitely not a happy chappy but DRIVER ERROR!

On lap 38 Webber pitted for a second set of harder tyres expecting to go to the end, another 22 laps. It wasn’t until lap 47 that Button pitted for his set of hard tyres and the following lap Vettel covered him and lost 2secs against Button. On lap 51 Schumacher pitted for his hard tyres and came out ahead of his teammate who was catching him on older tyres. He was given a message by his team that it was fine for them to race each other but to be careful! Although Rosberg was able to catch up there was not enough laps to pass one of the most experience drivers on the track.

With one lap to go Vettel did his usual and posted fastest lap as well as winning the inaugural Airtel Grand Prix of India from pole position. Another record was broken being that of the most laps in the lead in a season, previously held by Nigel Mansell.

The Grand Prix was not one of the best for the season but it was well presented and interesting and augers well for the future, hopefully with less dust on the track allowing more grip offline. This could result in demon overtaking attempts as many of the bends have wide entries that will allow several cars rounding a corner together, if there was less dust and more grip.

The next Grand Prix in 2 weeks is at the speed circuit in the desert of Abu Dhabi and we shall see what other records Red Bull and Vettel can produce as well as if Jenson Button can confirm second place in the Championship.

Practice was eventful with several crashes with Ben Spies, who crashed heavily in Australia and did not ride there, crashing again and withdrawing from the race. His team mate Jorge Lorenzo who had badly injured his hand in the warm up in Australia and didn’t race there, also withdrew from the Malaysian race as he went home to Spain for surgery and hopefully to be available for the last race of the year at Valencia in two weeks.

Pedrosa was quickest in qualifying and took pole position with Casey Stoner, the World Champion Elect in 2^nd place with Dovizioso giving the works Repsol Hondas the first front row since 1997. Edwards was the first Yamaha in 4^th with his highest position followed by Simoncelli and Hayden with Rossi, one of those that crashed in practice, in 9^th place.

At the start Pedrosa was unusually slow away and Stoner managed to pass him on the inside into the first bend and proceeded to pull away. Some riders gained places and some lost but at the end of the first lap Stoner was away in front followed by his Repsol team mates Pedrosa and Dovizioso. Batista on the Suzuki made a desperate pass of Simoncelli on the first bend but was immediately re-passed as he ran wide. He also lost position to Edwards and Rossi who were battling for 6^th and 7^th position. The leaders were charging away into the distance on the second lap when all of a sudden the red flag came out stopping the race.

There had been a serious accident on bend 11 involving Simoncelli, Edwards and Rossi leaving Simoncelli in the centre of the track. He had lost grip on his front wheel going into the bend and instead of sliding out into the gravel trap his bike had steered into the centre of the corner, with Marco holding on trying to get the bike upright. He was hit heavily by Edwards, ripping his helmet off, who then bounced into Rossi who was able to take evasive action by going across the grass and re-joining the track. Edwards crashed heavily onto the grass resulting in a shoulder dislocation which will result in him missing the last race of the year in Valencia, which is a shame as he was doing well with his best qualifying on the 800cc Yamaha. He is going to Tech 3 Honda next year with the new 1000cc series.

The race was delayed and a restart was schedule for 45 minutes later, however after 30 minutes the officials notified the teams that the race was cancelled. This was due to the critical condition of Marco, although conscious was using all the medical facilities and should there be another accident after the restart there would be no medical facilities available to attend to any injured rider.

Sadly it was notified by the officials that Marco had passed away from his injuries and our condolences go to his family and friends. He was one of the future stars of the group of riders that had achieved the honour of being at the top of motor cycle racing. He was a dual World Champion in the 250cc class of racing and had managed to be on the podium twice this season in Moto GP, a 3^rd in Brno, Czech Republic and 2^nd last week at Phillip Island, Australia. He also had several 4^th and 5^th places and always up jousting with the leaders in qualifying and the races even if it resulted in tears a few times. He had moments with both Pedrosa and Lorenzo and for a couple of races he lost his spark attempting to be one of the pack which was not his way as he was a bright and exciting talent. He had been signed by the Works Repsol Honda team for the new 1000cc bikes next year and looking forward to a brilliant career with the top team.

Marco was a charismatic character and will be sorely missed by all those who enjoyed his style, flair and obvious talent as well as his sense of humour, fun and antics off the track.

The last race of the series will be in 2 weeks at Valencia in Spain and we expect the injured riders will be there apart from Edwards and the final placing for the year finalised with Pedrosa and Dovizioso close with 2 points between them for 3^rd place.

The start began in 15C temp and strong winds with only 15 riders and Casey Stoner on pole, his 11^th of the season. Simoncelli managed 2^nd and the surprise was Bautista on the Suzuki in 3^rd followed by Dovizioso and Pedrosa on the other works Hondas. At the start Hayden surprised everybody sprinting from the third row into 2^nd place behind Stoner and ahead of Simoncelli. By the second lap Stoner was over 2 sec ahead and Simoncelli had taken Hayden   who was also passed by Dovizioso on the next lap using the Honda horsepower. On lap 4 Pedrosa also passed Hayden who immediately came back and the two of them traded places for the next 2 laps until Pedrosa made it stick.

On lap 10 a rain shower began on part of the track causing a few problems for some but Stoner was enjoying sliding through the bends more than usual as the pits were preparing the second bikes should the rain get heavy and they need rain tyres. Bautista finally passed Hayden whilst Rossi came up onto his rear and with 14 laps to past him. He also passed Bautista on the next lap but pushing hard on the slippery surface his rear tyre slipped round and Rossi was rolling in the grass. Bautista was lucky not to roll over him and his bike and managed to keep going with the rain still falling.

Despite the rain and wind the race was eventful with several good passing manoeuvres all through the race but the inevitable outcome was that Casey Stoner won his 9^th GP this year and also the 2011 World Championship and to top it all it was his birthday as well so there will be some party tonight. Simoncelli came in a creditable 2^nd followed by Dovizioso and Pedrosa on the works Hondas so Honda had it all to themselves but a valid effort by Edwards on a Yamaha with Randy de Puniet in 6^th on a Ducati ahead of the works Ducati of Hayden.

We look forward to the Malaysian GP next week and the return of the Works Yamaha riders Lorenzo and Spies nursing their injuries and the new World Champion elect, Casey Stoner to see if he can maintain his dominance he has had this year.