MotoGP champion Casey Stoner admitted his 'heart was in (his) throat' before he chased down Ben Spies for a thrilling win at the Valencia GP.
Stoner's victory on Sunday was his 16th podium finish of the season, equaling the record set by Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, but he was made to work for it after a gear-changing mistake.
Rain had earlier affected the race with Stoner's caution letting slip a nine-second lead before he was able to pip American Spies by just 0.015 seconds at the line.
"My heart was in my throat! We did such a good job all the race and then it started to rain heavily," Stoner said.
"Then coming onto the back straight I made a slight mistake when I went into neutral instead of first gear and Ben came past me."
"I tried to stay with him but he was riding very well, fast and smooth and he looked confident in the conditions, more so than me."
"In the first half of the final lap he made a nice gap but I knew we were quick in the second half of the lap. I thought to myself, we haven't been able to take any risks all season, this is the time to take one."
"I knew I had a better exit line out of the final turn and I kept my head down and went for the line."
"It's amazing to win this on the finish line, I've had it done to me in the past a few times but I've never done it to anyone else!"
Behind Stoner and Spies on the podium was Andrea Dovizioso, who wrapped up third in the final 2011 MotoGP world championship standings.
The Valencia GP capped a superb year for the Repsol Honda Team who celebrate the 'Triple Crown' after adding the Team Championship (with 528 points compared to Yamaha's 446 points) to the riders' and constructors' titles already secured in Australia.
After the event, Stoner picked up his MotoGP world championship trophy at an awards ceremony in Valencia with Moto2 world champion Stefan Bradl and last-ever 125cc title winner Nico Terol presented their awards.