Jorge Martin is world champion in the MotoGP class for the first time. The Spaniard secured the title with third place at the season finale in Barcelona.
The starting position was comfortable. The 26-year-old Martin had started the 20th and final race of the season with a 19-point lead over his last remaining rival in the world championship battle, defending champion Francesco Bagnaia from Italy. At the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló, 9th place would have been enough for him to win the overall standings.
Controlled drive
Despite the excellent starting position, the final step towards the title was a tough one for Martin. The danger of a crash is always latent in motorsport - and the pressure on the local hero was correspondingly high after Bagnaia had reduced the gap in the world championship standings by five points with his victory in the sprint on Saturday.
But Martin mastered the final task with aplomb. The rider from Madrid did not take any major risks over the 20 laps and completed the race with a high level of concentration. This was enough to make the overall victory perfect.
Bagnaia, for his part, did what was required of him in order to still have a chance of winning his third consecutive world title. The Italian, who started from pole position, secured his eleventh victory of the season ahead of his future team-mate Marc Marquez. If the points had been equal, Bagnaia would have been world champion because he has more GP wins this year than Martin (11:3). However, the three retirements ultimately weighed too heavily for Bagnaia.
Great satisfaction
Last season, Martin had to concede defeat to Bagnaia in the title fight. Now, with his second triumph after the one in 2018 in the Moto2 class, he wrote a piece of motorsport history. Never before has a rider from a customer team become world champion in MotoGP.
However, Martin was denied promotion from Pramac Racing to the Ducati factory team - again! In 2023, Enea Bastianini was preferred to him as the second rider alongside Bagnaia, while six-time MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez will be promoted to the factory team next season. The world championship title is therefore also a great satisfaction for Jorge Martin
SDA
