Valencia MotoGP race day

17:54 With that, our live coverage of the insane Valencia Grand Prix ends, and so does the 2018 MotoGP season, which concludes in brilliant fashion. It also perfectly sets the scene for the start of the 2019 season, which starts in just two days with the start of post-season testing.

17:48 Dovizioso: "It was a crazy race, at the beginning the first race I didn't have a lot of feeling and Rins started so fast, I couldn't follow him. After, step by step, I become a bit faster and it was very dangerous, I am proud to not crash in the first race because there was too much water. The second race we did some changes on the bike and we put also the new tyres and I feel so good, the bike work well and I was able to push as much as I wanted and it was too much for the competitors. Nice feeling to finish the championship like this."

17:46 Rins: "Incredible, I am very happy, was a crazy race. The first race was unbelivable, when I put first, when I saw on the pitboard like six seconds to the second one I say, come on, this is nice. But then, the last one was perfect, second, enough, we are also ready for the next season.

17:45 Espargaro: "That is so unreal, ***, it is unreal. The last lap, it was like a year riding a bike, it's been so long, also I had Dani pushing behind and I was pushing but at the same time I wanted to finish the race. Even fourth I didn't care because even fourth is an unbelievable position. I am full proud, KTM, to be here on the podium, stand with the best bikes in the world it is just make me proud and super happy."

17:39 Best MotoGP result for Espargaro, Pirro, Nakagami and also Torres, who takes his first point with 15th.

17:37 Beautiful scenes in parc ferme as the crying Pol Espargaro is greeted by his super happy brother Aleix. Not only the first podium for him and KTM, it is probably the first time someone can stand on the podium after crashing in the race.

17:34 Race results: 1 Dovizioso; 2 Rins; 3 P. Espargaro; 4 Pirro; 5 Pedrosa; 6 Nakagami; 7 Zarco; 8 Smith; 9 Bradl; 10 Syahrin; 11 Redding; 12 Lorenzo; 13 Rossi; 14 Abraham; 15 Torres.

17:33 Pirro nearly set the fastest lap of the race on the last lap on his way to fourth as Pedrosa's MotoGP career concludes with a fifth place.

17:32 KTM boss Pit Beirer is understandably happy: "I cannot talk, it is f***ing amazing, I don't know what to say it is unbelievable. We want this so much I cannot tell you how much we wanted this."

17:30 Rins takes the fifth podium of his 2018 campaign, Espargaro claims his own and KTM's first top three finish!

17:29 Dovizioso crosses the line first and wins the final race of the 2018 MotoGP season!

17:28 Last lap begins as Rossi makes another mistakes by running off-track.

17:26 Dovizioso's lead over Rins is now 5.6s with two laps remaining.

17:25 Rossi rejoined and is running 13th, 2.4s behind Lorenzo, which says a lot about the Ducati rider's race as well.

17:24 That means Espargaro is up to third place! He is four laps away from KTM's first MotoGP podium.

17:23 Rossi's fall happened at Turn 12. It is the second consecutive race he throws away a podium finish.

17:22 Rossi crashes out from second! Massive drama for Yamaha and the Italian.

17:20 Dovizioso's lead is up to 2.5s but he still has six more laps to complete.

17:20 Bautista is the first rider to crash since the restart, the Angel Nieto Ducati rider failing to finish his last MotoGP race.

17:17 And he does! Rossi takes second from Rins with a swift move.

17:16 Rins doesn't quite have the pace of Dovizioso at the moment. Rossi might, but he needs to get past Rins first.

17:15 Nine laps to go, Dovizioso managed to build a 1.2s gap over Rins and Rossi. Espargaro in fourth is further six seconds behind. We won't get a KTM podium (probably), but a fourth place would still be amazing for the Austrian brand.

17:14 Of the top three, Rins is looking most unstable, his Suzuki already had couple of twitches.

17:11 Pirro is looking racy as he already gained seven places and is up to sixth behind the battling duo of Espargaro and Pedrosa.

17:10 Fastest lap from Rossi in third place, a 1m42.062s.

17:09 The top three quickly pulled away from Espargaro and Rins is looking keen to pass Dovizioso.

17:08 Dovizioso makes a move on Rins at Turn 1 for the lead.

17:07 Rain is back! Oh dear...

17:07 Another great start from Espargaro as well who is up to fourth, ahead of Pedrosa, before the end of the opening lap.

17:06 Rins has a great start again and leads into T1 from Dovizioso, Rossi and Pedrosa.

17:05 For the second time, green flag!

17:05

This is now your front two rows! Rins on pole from Dovizioso and Rossi!🏁

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This is now your front two rows! Rins on pole from Dovizioso and Rossi!🏁 #ValenciaGP t.co/STnJnkrg2L

17:03 Warm-up lap is underway.

17:02 New starting grid:
1 Rins; 2 Dovizioso; 3 Rossi;
4 Pedrosa; 5 Zarco; 6 Nakagami;
7 Bautista; 8 P. Espargaro; 9 Redding;
10 Syahrin; 11 Lorenzo; 12 Bradl;
13 Pirro; 14 Abraham; 15 Torres;
16 Smith.

17:01 The pitlane is open, we're getting ready to go racing again. The rain has definitely eased off so conditions have hopefully reached manageable levels.

16:56 As good an opportunity as it gets for Pedrosa to salvage a podium as he will restart fourth.

16:55 There will be 16 riders restarting the race. If nobody else retires, one rider will be really angry to have survived this race without scoring a single point.

16:50 Pitlane will open at 15:00 local time, so 10 minutes from now.

16:46 The race will be restarted for 14 laps but when that happens is yet to be seen.

16:45 P. Espargaro: "Marc was really fast in T1 then T2 I did too fast corner three and I had this highside. Luckily I could take the bike again and then I overtake a lot of guys until I arrive to seventh position, we're gonna start I think eighth because they red-flagged a little bit earlier. We've been fast but maybe is a bit too much, let's see how is the water."