Jorge Martin secured the 2024 MotoGP World Championship after finishing third in the season finale in Barcelona.
The Spaniard maintained third position throughout the race and etched his name in MotoGP history by defeating championship rival Francesco Bagnaia by a ten-point margin.
Martin accumulated six Sprint race wins and three Grand Prix victories throughout the season, but he showed the true mark of a champion, finishing on the podium 32 times in the 40 total races.
The final race of the 2024 season was underway as the two title protagonists of Bagnaia and Martin occupied the first two places into Turn 1.
Marc Marquez placed his Gresini bike through into third ahead of Enea Bastianini, but forced his way through on Martin to snatch second at Turn 1 on Lap 2.
Bagnaia’s approach in the opening stages saw him opt not to push too far away from the field, but the Italian rider insisted previously he wouldn’t use tactics across the weekend.
Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro battled his way through Bastianini to claim fourth spot. The Spaniard’s last race was his home race, but also a faithful ally to championship leader Martin if anything occurred.
Espargaro and Bastianini overtook each other again on Laps 4 and 5, as the Aprilia rider caused havoc to try to give Martin a comfortable advantage in third. By the end of the first five laps, the gap varied between 0.2s and 0.4s over certain parts of the track.
A few bike lengths inside the first third of the race separated the leading duo of Bagnaia and Marquez. The latter wasn’t in a competitive position all weekend but now found himself at the forefront of the grid once more.
On Lap 8, the second factory Ducati rider of Bastianini ran wide at Turn 1 and dropped down to eighth, which promoted Gresini’s Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta and Franco Morbidelli.
This minor error from the Italian led the top eight riders to hold station for the foreseeable. However, younger brother Marquez eyed up a possible move on Espargaro in the final sector on Lap 12 but realised it was slightly too ambitious.
Bastianini overtook Franco Morbidelli at Turn 1 on Lap 13 to reclaim seventh place, a crucial move in his bid to regain third in the championship.
As the final ten laps commenced, championship leader Martin continued to cruise in the middle of the older brothers Marquez and Espargaro. The Spaniard’s comfortable position edged him closer and closer to that maiden MotoGP title.
Gresini’s Marquez overtook Espargaro on the final lap. Still, the Aprilia riders’ last-ever MotoGP race came to a close, but he could do a job to help his friend Martin win the championship. In a changing of the guard, the Spaniard held the pack up and played a role in moving the #1 plate to Aprilia, the team he helped fight for podiums and race wins.
Bagnaia crossed the line to earn his 11th race win of the season, but his race win was meaningless in the context of the championship.
The factory Ducati rider displayed some impressive performances, but his mistakes led to the title of the rider’s championship going to his satellite rival Martin.
Older brother Marquez capped off his season with a second-place finish, ensuring a third-place finish in the final standings in his first year on Bologna machinery.
The second Marquez finished in fourth as Espargaro followed close behind in fifth.
KTM’s Brad Binder recovered up the grid to produce a sixth-placed finish and end the championship season as the lead non-Ducati rider once more.
GP24 Ducati riders of Bastianini and Morbidelli finished seventh and eighth for the factory and Pramac outfit, as Marco Bezzecchi overtook Pedro Acosta to snatch ninth on the last lap.
Acosta’s tenth place saw him cap off his rookie season in sixth place overall, but nearly lost out on a top ten finish to Fabio Quartararo.
Miguel Oliveira’s return to action saw the Portuguese star cross the line in 12th, ahead of KTM’s Jack Miller and LCR’s Johann Zarco.
Maverick Vinales’ last race for Aprilia saw him finish a distant 17 seconds off his team-mate and brought home the final point in 15th.
The Honda duo of Luca Marini and Takaaki Nakagami crossed the line in tandem as both riders finished within 0.070s to finish 16th and 17th place.
Raul and Augusto Fernandez followed to claim 18th and 19th place, respectively, as Alex Rins closed out his season one second behind.
Michele Pirro and Stefan Bradl closed out the final two spots of the classification, a distance away from the full-time riders in front.
