Francesco Bagnaia claims MotoGP world title again after Martín crash

Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia won the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix on Sunday to claim a second straight MotoGP world championship after closest contender Jorge Martín crashed out in a collision with Marc Márquez.

Pramac Racing’s Martín, who was 14 points behind Bagnaia going into the final race, made the title race tighter by winning Saturday’s sprint but was ultimately unable to thwart the Italian.

Bagnaia, who began the race on pole after Maverick Viñales was handed a three-place penalty, had an excellent start but was matched in the first two laps by Martín, who moved up from sixth into second by turn two of the race. However, Martín was reckless in his eagerness to overtake Bagnaia, and a coming-together between the two on turn one of the third lap resulted in the Spaniard being forced wide and dropping down to seventh.

Martín threw caution to the wind at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo and tried to surge back up the leaderboard, but clipped Márquez’s rear and was left in the gravel on lap six. The crash ensured a dismal end to six-times MotoGP champion Márquez’s tenure at Honda, with his final race for the Japanese manufacturers ending in a non-finish. Márquez will join Gresini Racing in 2024.

KTM’s Jack Miller led the race for a significant period after overtaking Bagnaia on the 15th lap, with the Italian rider content to concede the lead, but the Australian crashed hard in the 20th lap to throw away his shot at the chequered flag.

With clear track in front of him, Bagnaia crossed the finish line first to seal the title in emphatic fashion, though he had to hold off Gresini Racing’s Fabio Di Giannantonio and Pramac Racing’s Johann Zarco – who finished second and third. Marco Bezzecchi of VR46 Racing, Ducati’s Enea Bastianini and GasGas Factory Racing Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez were also unable to finish the crash-filled race.

“Amazing, I don’t have many words now,” said Bagnaia. “It was a long race, 27 laps of struggle because I didn’t feel good in the front. I let the KTM riders past and then the feeling became better, maybe because the pressure or the temperature changed. From that moment I was able to push, but in the last few laps I was completely without tyres, but we did it. It was quite tough, but we did it. We won the title, we won the race, it’s impossible to get any better than this.”