Francesco Bagnaia seals successive MotoGP titles with victory at Grand Prix Valencia as Jorge Martin crashes out
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Updated 26/11/2023 at 18:34 GMT
Francesco Bagnaia defended his MotoGP title after his closest challenger Jorge Martin crashed out in the final race of the season. Martin entered the race trailing Bagnaia by 14 points, making Bagnaia the clear favourite for the title. And the 26-year-old Bagnaia was crowned champion for a successive season when Martin crashed out on Lap 6 at Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo.
TOPSHOT - Ducati Italian rider Francesco Bagnaia celebrates on the podium after winning the MotoGP Valencia Grand Prix at the Ricardo Tormo racetrack in Cheste, on November 26, 2023. Italy's Francesco Bagnaia enjoyed a dream day as he retained his MotoGP
Image credit: Eurosport
Francesco Bagnaia clinched back-to-back MotoGP world championship titles with victory in the Valencia Grand Prix.
The title was decided earlier in the race when Jorge Martin, Bagnaia's only remaining challenger, went down and out on Lap 6.
While his opponents made mistakes, Bagnaia stayed cool, calm, and collected and demonstrated a masterclass in defensive riding to defend the premier class crown from the top step of the podium.
"[It feels] amazing, I don't have many words right now," he said. "It was a long race, 27 laps of struggling because I didn't feel well with the front.
"I tried to let the two KTMs past and the feeling started to become better, maybe because of the tyre pressure or temperature. And from that moment I started to feel better. I was able to push, but in the last laps I was completely without tyres and it was quite tough.
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'More is impossible' - Bagnaia on cloud nine after claiming back-to-back MotoGP titles
"But, finally, we did it; we won the title winning the race - better than this is impossible."
Starting from pole position, Bagnaia hung on to the lead at lights out. Martin too had a dream launch and punched his way past the KTMs of Brad Binder and Jack Miller to slot into second.
Drama struck going into Lap 3 when Martin sought to capitalise on Bagnaia being slightly out of shape and going marginally wide. Instead, though, Martin got sucked into dirty air under braking and almost ran into the factory Ducati's rear wheel.
It very easily could have been race over for both riders, but Martin "only" ran well wide, losing around two seconds and dropping into sixth.
While Bagnaia was under increasing pressure from Binder and Miller, Martin tried hard to claim positions back and engaged in a close battle with Maverick Vinales, Marc Marquez, and Johann Zarco.
Things eventually got too close for comfort on Lap 6 when Martin ran into Marquez' back, launching the Honda rider into the air and sending them both into the gravel.
Out front, be it due to race craft or a drop in focus after having effectively won the title, Bagnaia dropped behind first Binder, then Miller. The two KTMs looked comfortable out front, but errors would cost them both.
Binder locked the front under braking, being forced wide through the penalty loop on Lap 15 and, as a result, dropped to sixth. Miller inherited the position, but when he tried to respond to Bagnaia and Zarco edging closer behind him, his race ended in the gravel trap on Lap 19.
Back in the lead, Bagnaia was under pressure from Zarco but the rider on the pace was Fabio Di Giannantonio who picked up position after position and took chunks out of the leading duo.
Going into the penultimate lap, there was nothing to separate Di Giannantonio from Zarco and Bagnaia and the Gresini Ducati rider swiftly moved into second.
The last lap turned into a defensive exhibition from Bagnaia who tried everything to hold Di Giannantonio behind him and eventually took the chequered flag with just under two tenths of an advantage.
"It's the worst podium of my life," Di Giannantonio said post-race. "I was pushing so hard and I had an amazing pace. So the more I started to catch the front group, the more I started to believe in the win and I wanted to win, wanted to leave the team with a win.
"But then on the last lap, Pecco [Bagnaia] started to close all the lines, so I was angry, thinking 'Argh,' I lost it.
"Anyway, it's an unbelievable achievement for us to finish the season with this growth, so I'm happy and super proud. And I promised to give the team the best result possible and I think this is a good way."
However, about an hour after the race had finished, Di Giannantonio was hit with a retrospective three-seconds penalty for a tyre pressure infringement that saw the Gresini rider lose his podium and drop to fourth.
Zarco had looked in a good position to challenge for the win at times but eventually had to settle for third, upgraded to second following Di Giannantonio's penalty, his sixth podium finish of the season.
"It's a pretty nice podium," the Frenchman commented. "The start has been better than the one I did yesterday and, overall, I had better control of the race. KTM was pretty strong, but with the two mistakes of the KTM and Jorge [Martin] out, I said, okay, I too have a chance to play for victory.
"I was trying to prepare an overtake on Pecco [Bagnaia]; he had amazing pace, but I had the control to be a bit faster on the last lap. But Di Giannantonio arrived too quickly and I've been surprised when he attacked me into Turn 4. And then I couldn't find any doors to attack him and try to win.
"It's a nice podium to close this Pramac chapter and now I can really go for it and enjoy this new project with Honda."
Binder fought his way back to take the chequered flag in fourth, retrospectively upgraded to a podium finish in third with Di Giannantonio demoted, while Raul Fernandez had a quiet but superb race to fifth. Alex Marquez followed in sixth ahead of Franco Morbidelli and Aleix Espargaro while Luca Marini was ninth. Maverick Vinales closed out the top ten as only 14 riders finished the Grand Prix.
RIDER OF THE DAY - FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO
Honourable mention to Bagnaia who kept his cool when others didn't and won the race to defend his MotoGP title, but rider of the day goes to Di Giannantonio who might have just gone and secured his stay in the premier class.
The Italian is facing uncertainty over his future with no ride anywhere confirmed. However, since losing his spot at Gresini to Marc Marquez, Di Giannantonio has been on the up. Despite losing his podium finish to a penalty, today's on-track display is the latest addition to a portfolio that should put him firmly in the shop window for 2024.
Di Giannantonio has reportedly been eyed up by the Mooney VR46 team and today's performance may well have sealed him the deal.
WHERE THE RACE WAS WON AND LOST
1/27: BAGNAIA LEADS FROM POLE, MARTIN INTO SECOND - Bagnaia gets the start he wanted and holds on to P1. Meanwhile, Martin punches his way past the KTMs and slots in at second.
3/27: BAGNAIA WIDE, MARTIN WELL WIDE - Bagnaia goes slightly wide, allowing Martin to close in. However, Martin gets sucked into dirty air as a result and almost runs onto the factory Ducati's rear wheel. He runs well wide and loses around two seconds, falling into P7. This could have been race over for both of them.
6/27: MARTIN DOWN AND OUT, TITLE DECIDED - Bit of an anti-climax as Martin crashes out, taking M. Marquez with him, and Bagnaia is your 2023 world champion.
6/27: BINDER TAKES LEAD - Out front, Binder has claimed the lead off Bagnaia.
7/27: KTM DUO LEAD - Miller is now also past Bagnaia, meaning we have a KTM duo lead the race.
15/27: BINDER DOWN TO SIXTH - Binder locks the front under braking and is forced wide through the penalty lap. That's likely it for his victory ambitions.
19/27: MILLER RESPONDS, GOES DOWN - Miller responds to Bagnaia and Zarco edging closer, but, unfortunately, it ends in the gravel for him.
23/27: DI GIANNANTONIO ON THE MOVE - As we enter the late stages of the race, Di Giannantonio is the rider on the pace as he claims Binder for third with seeming ease.
26/27: DI GIANNANTONIO INTO SECOND - Not unexpectedly, Di Giannantonio moves past Zarco and has only Bagnaia left ahead of him.
27/27: BAGNAIA WINS RACE TO CELEBRATE TITLE - A masterclass in defensive riding, Bagnaia holds Di Giannantonio behind him to win the Grand Prix of Valencia. Zarco completes the podium.
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