The MotoGP circus remains at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo for the penultimate race of the 2020 calendar.
It’s round 13 for the premier class, which could see Suzuki’s Joan Mir win his maiden title.
Edoardo Stella will take you through the action as it happens.
The Spaniard heads with a safe margin a packed group of riders, leading the standings with 162 points.
Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins follow with 125, as Maverick Vinales is fourth with 121. Italians Franco Morbidelli and Andrea Dovizioso still stand a chance with 117.
Morbidelli will start on pole for today’s race, with Jack Miller and Takaaki Nakagami alongside him on the front row. Most of the title contenders start from further back, which can make the first laps crucial.
With the races earlier today, both the Moto2 and Moto3 championships will see a final showdown at Portimao next week, as neither of the leaders has more than 25 points on their closest rival. Is this a bad omen for Suzuki?
Two minutes to the start, as the formation lap gets underway. We have a very clear sky over Valencia today.
Race start! Very quick getaway for Morbidelli, who leads from Miller and Pol Espargaro. Awful mistake from Quartararo, who goes wide at turn two and is all the way in P20.
Lap 1/27 Rins is in P7, Mir is in P10, Dovizioso P12 and Vinales P13.
Lap 2/27 Morbidelli keeps leading, with Miller and Espargaro close behind. Nakagami leads a group that ends with Mir a few tenths behind. Quartararo has made up a few places and is in P17.
Lap 3/27 Provisionals standings would lift Morbidelli 26 points behind Mir, just one point away what is needed to keep the championship alive. The Spaniard’s 10th place may just be enough.
Lap 5/27 Crash for Johann Zarco! The Frenchman was in P6 and was defending hard from Rins. The two were wheel-to-wheel and the Ducati rider may have just broken too hard to try to keep the position.
Lap 6/27 The field starts to spread. Nakagami makes a mistake and is passed by Miguel Oliveira. Now Rins is ready to overtake.
Lap 8/27 Morbidelli has a six-tenths advantage on Miller and Aleix Espargaro. Miguel Oliveira follows over a second behind, with Nakagami, Rins and Brad Binder on his tail.
Lap 9/27 Quartararo’s hopes are over! Just as Mir was closing to Espargaro’s P8, Quartararo bins his chances by crashing. He was still in P16.
Lap 10/27 Nakagami gets his fourth place back from Oliveira at the last corner. There is lively fight for P4, as the front trio is over two seconds away now.
Lap 11/27 Rins gets past Oliveira. The provisional standings would still see him 33 points behind Mir. He needs to catch the leaders and finish at least second.
Lap 12/27 Mir gets past Espargaro and lifts up to eight. This is another crucial point towards the championship for the Spaniard.
Lap 13/27 Morbidelli’s gap at the front is one second, while Nakagami has closed up to 1.4s to Espargaro’s third place.
Lap 14/27 Whilst Morbidelli is the only rider other than Quartararo to have won more than a race this year, his three closest rivals are yet to win. Nakagami, particularly has been riding fast in the latest laps. He is nine tenths behind the podium position.
Lap 16/27 Nakagami and Miller are closing up. 1:31.6 for Morbidelli, 1:31.5 for Miller, 1:31.4 for Nakagami’s Honda.
Lap 17/27 Fastest lap for Miller, who laps in 1:31.3. Morbidelli is only six tenths up the track. Nakagami, instead, has finally caught Espargaro for third.
Lap 18/27 Championship leader Mir remains eighth, about a second behind Oliveira. He is now followed by Dovizioso.
Lap 18/27 Silly move by Nakagami! The Japanese rider forces an overtake on Espargaro at the last corner, but crashes whilst trying to turn.
Lap 19/27 Nakagami could have been the 16th rider to stand on the podium this season, as his crash also made Espargaro lose precious time. The KTM is almost three seconds down on Miller.
Lap 20/27 Now Mir is seventh and gains another point towards safety. Miller and Morbidelli keep their distant duel. The gap continues to vary between 0.5s and 0.9s.
Lap 21/27 1.32.0 for Morbidelli, 1.31.7 for Miller, who is only three tenths behind now. Can the Australian get his first dry weather win?
Lap 23/27 No change at the front, but fewer laps remaining for Mir. Suzuki’s wait for a title may soon come to an end.
Lap 25/27 Miller remains close, but is lacking that final step to close in and overtake. He still gained two tenths on the last lap.
Lap 26/27 Onto the last lap! Nothing separates the two riders!
Lap 27/27 Very quick exit from the last corner by Miller who goes ahead in turn one, but Morbidelli responds and is at the front again!
Lap 27/27 Miller overtakes again, but Morbidelli is through once more! What an amazing show, as we head to the final two sectors!
MORBIDELLI WINS BY NOTHING ON MILLER! MIR IS WORLD CHAMPION!
It’s the third win of the season with a heroic performance. Espargaro completes the podium.
Nothing to take away from Morbidelli, but Mir breaks Suzuki’s drought for a world title. After Kenny Roberts’ win in 2000, Mir is now champion of the world for 2020!
He is the first champion other than Marc Marquez since Jorge Lorenzo in 2015.
Few would have predicted this astonishing result at the start of the season. Marc Marquez’s absence helped revive the title challenge, as Joan Mir was by far the most regular driver.
There is still a race remaining, though, as next week’s Portuguese GP will decide who finishes second, plus the constructors title.
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