One – Jorge Lorenzo – had scored more points and more races than anybody else, taking a hard-fought seventh victory of the season to seal the deal. Plus a new lap record, after starting from pole.
All season he had been the faster Yamaha rider in every respect.
But the other was Movistar Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi, champion to probably many of the 110,000 fans packing the Ricardo Tormo circuit, and a far greater proportion out in the twittersphere. In spite of what they saw, many still suspected a conspiracy. A view promoted by Rossi, who described second-place Marquez as “Lorenzo’s bodyguard”.
It might be true. Impossible to say. Some evidence could be twisted to support Valentino, who insisted that Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) could have won the race; and while it looked as though his last plan for attack had been foiled when team-mate Dani Pedrosa passed him briefly on the penultimate lap, giving Lorenzo a tiny gap.
Lorenzo didn’t put a foot wrong: leading from the first corner to the flag, with a new lap record to boot. But it wasn’t easy. He was pressed throughout by Marquez, who finished barely a quarter of a second behind, with Pedrosa less than half-a-second away.
Rossi was fourth, almost 20 seconds adrift. Quite an achievement from the back row of the grid – punishment for his cynical attack on Marquez at Sepang. Willed on by fans worldwide, he carved through to fourth by the 13th of 30 laps. All he could do was hold the position. Had Lorenzo finished third, it would have been enough. As it was, he was five points behind.
It wasn’t the climax the fans wanted. Maybe not a result they even believed. But it was a well-earned and well-deserved championship for Lorenzo all the same, and Rossi’s comments left a nasty taste in the mouth, whether you believed him or not.