Valencia MotoGP, Circuit Ricardo Tormo - Race Results

Francesco Bagnaia. wins his fourth race of the season in the 2021 Valencia MotoGP finale, as mentor Valentino Rossi signs off his legendary, 26-year grand prix career with a competitive tenth place, as the second best Yamaha after world champion Fabio Quartararo.

After taking the chequered flag for the final time, Rossi parked at the side of the track where he was mobbed by not only his fan club but all of his rivals, as tears flowed in the Petronas Yamaha garage.

Cheered all the way back to pit lane, Rossi then stood on his M1 surrounded by the applause of team members from throughout the grid, before partying with his crew in the Petronas garage.

Rookie pole starter Jorge Martin fought-off his opponents to keep the advantage until lap 16 of 27, when Bagnaia finally squeezed past to head a four-rider group completed by Mir and Miller.

Miller grabbed the final podium place from Mir at Turn 2 with nine laps to go, then set his sights on the leading duo.

While Bagnaia - wearing Rossi's 2004 title winning 'Che Spettacolo'' helmet design - edged clear, Martin came within striking range of Miller, but held firm to the finish for an historic all-Ducati rostrum.

Martin's fourth podium also meant he won the Rookie of the Year title from Bastianini. The Spaniard then revealed he had been sick all night.

Mir's team-mate Alex Rins was hounding Martin and Bagnaia when he crashed, for the sixth time this year, just before mid-race distance.

While Quartararo, Bagnaia and Mir were already confirmed in the top three championship places, Miller confirmed fourth overall ahead of Zarco.

Sunday was also the last grand prix for Danilo Petrucci (switching to the Dakar) and team-mate Iker Lecuona (moving to WorldSBK), who finished 18th  and 15th respectively.

Marc Marquez finished the season where he started it, on the sidelines, missing his second event in a row due to vision problems triggered by a training accident

Team-mate Pol Espargaro also skipped the race, being declared unfit after his huge Saturday highside, meaning no Repsol Hondas were on the grid.

While the riders' (Fabio Quartararo) and constructors' (Ducati) world championship were already decided, Ducati Lenovo clinched the teams' title in today's race.

All rides chose the hard front and medium rear tyres.

The final official MotoGP track action of the year, a two-day test session at Jerez, will take place next week...

* Rookie