Jorge Lorenzo has won a third world title after taking the MotoGP championship at the final race in Spain despite an incredible ride from his team mate Valentino Rossi.
Rossi led the championship coming into the last race of the season, but he was forced to start at the back of the grid and this ultimately cost him the title.
The Italian lost his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against a grid penalty incurred for kicking rival Marc Marquez off his bike in October’s Malaysia MotoGP.
With an incredible effort he moved from last place to fourth, but it wasn’t good enough to stop his Yamaha stable-mate Lorenzo claiming the crown.
Lorenzo started on pole position in Valencia and led the race for every one of the 30 laps to win ahead of Marquez and his Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa.
If Rossi had finished second he would have held on to the points lead he had going into the Valencia race but it proved beyond the nine-times world champion.
In the end outgoing champion Marquez and Pedrosa finished second and third and Rossi angrily accused them of helping their compatriot by not trying to win.
"I did what I could but it was a strange situation having Marquez as the bodyguard of Lorenzo. It is embarrassing for the sport," Rossi said after former King Juan Carlos handed out the winner's trophy on an all-Spanish podium.
"Hopefully the sport's authorities will be able to sort it out. It is an ugly end to what has been an attractive championship. It has not been a true championship and this should not happen in sport," he added.
Rossi said Lorenzo was a deserving champion but he could not understand why Honda, his former team, should want to see a Yamaha rider win.
He accused Marquez of being a 'biscottone' -- an expression used in soccer when two teams play out a mutually beneficial draw to the detriment of another -- but said he expected no less.
Marquez said it was 'a lack of respect' to suggest he had not tried to win even if he recognised there would always be doubters.
"I always give everything and I know there will be people that will say that I have been second because I wanted Lorenzo to win," he said.
Lorenzo, who ended the season with seven wins to Rossi's four and five points clear, suggested it was to be expected that his compatriots would rather see him win.
"The fact that they knew what I was going for and that they are Spanish has helped me and in another race they may have tried everything to overtake," said the new champion.
"Dani did well because he could have tried a crazy overtake. We are Spanish and the title remains in Spain. If it had been in Italy and with two Italians behind Rossi then it would have been the same."
The Moto2 race win went to Spaniard Tito Rabat on a Kalex and in Moto3 Portuguese Miguel Oliveira secured his sixth race win of the season.
