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Written by Nina Rogerson
We are just days away from crowning the 2024 MotoGP World Champion at the season finale in Barcelona this weekend. So, we’re taking a look at the 2024 season so far and picking apart how this championship came down to Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia for the ‘Rematch’.
Image via motogp.com
Coming into the 2024 season, Bagnaia was a double world champion, and Martin was still without the number 1 and the Factory Ducati seat he yearned for. Marc Marquez had just jumped on the Gresini Ducati after 11 years on the Honda, and Pedro Acosta was the newest addition to the MotoGP grid. So, it’s safe to say we knew we were in for a great year of racing.
We started off the season under the lights in Qatar. It was Martin who took the sprint win ahead of Brad Binder and Aleix Espargaro. However, it was race winner Bagnaia that came out of round 1 on top. Marc Marquez made his Ducati debut and brought it home in P4, an exciting and ominous result on a new bike at a circuit he doesn’t particularly like. Rookie sensation Pedro Acosta impressed us all with some early overtakes on the frontrunners with an eventual finish inside the top 10 for his first MotoGP race.
Things took a turn in Portimão for the second round of the season. Maverick Vinales won his first sprint race and took the top step of the podium for the first time with Aprilia (albeit a sprint podium and not a grand prix podium). Marc took his first podium for Ducati in the sprint, but Sunday is where things would get spicy. In the last few laps of the main race, Marc and Bagnaia went down together after battling for P5. The crash was ruled a racing incident, but we got our first glimpse of the Marquez-Bagnaia fight. Martin won the main race and after a last corner incident for Maverick Vinales, Pedro Acosta took his first GP podium in only his second race.
Image via www.gp-inside.com
Heading to the States, we all expected Marquez to revive his incredible COTA form but after a P2 in the sprint and a crash in the main race, it was clear that he was still adapting to the new machinery. All eyes were on Vinales who took both the sprint win and main race win, BatMav was born. Acosta took another podium, and it was a fairly quiet weekend for both Martin and Bagnaia.
The start of the European leg of the season was an exciting one. There was drama in the Jerez sprint with Fabio Quartararo finishing in P3 but then later being penalised for tyre pressure, meaning that wildcard rider Dani Pedrosa took the points for P3 and had his own mini podium celebration. On Sunday, Bagnaia was the winner after a tight battle with Marc. Marc took his first Ducati GP podium, and it was a return to the podium for Marco Bezzecchi in P3. Martin made his first big mistake this season with a crash on Sunday.
The next three race weekends would include big mistakes and big wins from our title contenders. In Le Mans, Bagnaia would crash out of the sprint while Martin would win both races. In Catalunya, Bagnaia would once again crash out of the sprint but would redeem himself with a Sunday win while Martin would pick up a 2nd place on Sunday. In Mugello, it was Martin that would crash out of the sprint while Bagnaia took the double win.
It was after the Italian Grand Prix that we would learn of Ducati’s rider plans for 2025, a decision that everyone in the MotoGP world was patiently awaiting. Reportedly, Ducati informed Jorge Martin on the Sunday evening of the GP that they would not be signing him to the factory team for 2025. Martin was now twice overlooked for the factory team so, after consulting with his good friend Aleix Espargaro, Martin met with Aprilia boss Michele Colaninno to sign an Aprilia factory seat for 2025. Two days later, the news officially broke that Marc Marquez would partner Pecco Bagnaia at the Factory Ducati team for 2025 and 2026.
Image via motogp.com
It was business as usual at the front for the next race with a double win in Assen for Bagnaia and a double P2 for Martin. In Germany, Martin won the sprint but crashed out of the race allowing Bagnaia to take the win and come out of the weekend ahead of Martin. The Gresini boys took a double podium on Sunday in Germany with Marc finishing ahead of brother Alex.
For the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the championship we were in Silverstone where we would see Enea Bastianini win both the sprint and the main race. Bagnaia would crash out of the sprint and take P3 in the race with Martin capitalising on Bagnaia’s sprint blunder with a double P2.
Image via www,topclassmagazine.com
Going into the second half of the season we knew things would start to heat up amongst the championship contenders and the threat of Marc Marquez was looming…
Austria was a fairly tame round with a double win for Bagnaia and a double P2 for Martin, proving just why these two are top 2 in the championship.
Marc Marquez took his first ever sprint win at his beloved Aragon circuit and would follow that up on Sunday with his first Grand Prix victory in 1043 days. Aragon will be one of the rounds we remember not just because of the Marc Marquez victory story but also because Bagnaia would come away with only 1 point. Bagnaia finished P9 in the sprint and would get taken out of the Sunday race by Alex Marquez. Martin would once again capitalise by taking two 2nd places out of this weekend.
The first of two Misano rounds would result in another Marc Marquez win, no wins in 1043 days and then two in 7. Martin would win the sprint, Bagnaia would take a double P2. However, it was Martin that would suffer a blunder this time with a crash out of the main race.
Image via www.relevo.com
Yet another title contender blunder would come in our second visit to Misano in the shape of a Sunday crash for Bagnaia while his teammate Bastianini would take the victory. Bagnaia did take the sprint win, but a double P2 for Martin meant the Spaniard was once again coming away as the winner.
The flyaways are a crucial part of the season and for Bagnaia it was important for him to make up some of the points he had lost. Indonesia was first on the list and once again, it was one all for the title contenders. Bagnaia took the sprint and Martin took the race. Martin took a tumble on the first lap of the sprint and had to settle for no points but made up for it by taking 25 on Sunday.
Japan was next up with a dominant weekend for Bagnaia. A double win would stamp out any doubts about his ability to handle the pressure. Australia was the first race of our second triple-header, and it was another sprint win for Martin. Marc took the race win with our title contenders sat behind him with Martin in P2 and Bagnaia in P3.
Image via motorcyclesports.net
We made our way to Thailand next, and it was a dramatic race which left Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo in the gravel after being taken out by former teammate Franco Morbidelli. The race was won by Bagnaia with the sprint being won by teammate Bastianini. Martin took another double P2 to strengthen his championship lead.
Malaysia was our first match-point of the season. Martin had to outscore Bagnaia by nine points to clinch the title but, Bagnaia wasn’t going down without a fight. The first few laps were complete drama for the pair with overtakes on every corner coming from both of them. Ultimately, it was Bagnaia that took the win to deny Martin the championship for one more weekend.
So, it’s been a great season of racing and it’s not over just yet. With one more round and a championship to settle, we head to Barcelona this weekend to crown our 2024 World Champion. Will it be #VamosJorge or #ForzaPecco? Tune in this weekend to find out!
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