For the second consecutive season, Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia will compete for the title of MotoGP world champion in the final round of the championship. One thing has changed since last year, however, since it is the Spaniard who has a certain lead in terms of points before entering the final.
While last year, Pecco Bagnaia concluded the Valencia GP with 39 points in advance, to win his second consecutive title in the premier category, Jorge Martín arrives in Barcelona with twenty-four points more than his opponent. The opportunity to analyze the statistics of the two reigning contenders between last season and the current campaign.
First of all, it should be remembered that the following tables include statistics from 19 Sprint races for each season. That of the Australian GP having been canceled in 2023, and that of Barcelona, having not yet taken place this year.
For the main races, the statistics include one less event for the 2024 campaign. The twentieth and final event of the championship has not yet taken place.
Jorge Martín more regular on Sunday
If the Pramac driver halved his retirements on Sunday, he above all demonstrated impressive consistency, scoring a total of fifteen podiums in the main race.
An example of consistency which the Spaniard also demonstrated on Saturday. If he has two fewer victories than last year for the same number of Sprints, he almost doubled his number of podiums when victory eluded him.
Martin still scored four points less than last year during the shortened event. In the race, he has 61 more. Thus, before the last round of the championship, the number 89's counter already shows 57 units more than last year.
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Sprinting, Bagnaia’s Achilles heel
For Bagnaia, it's the opposite. While the latter only retired once on Saturday last year, he failed to finish five Sprint races in 2024. For the same number of events, the No. 1 lost 34 points on Saturday by compared to last year.
The Italian, however, increased his number of Sprint victories, climbing to the highest step of the podium six times.
However, we cannot blame Bagnaia for having missed numerous opportunities to win on Sunday, since the latter won ten times, to pocket 18 points more than last year at the end of the weekend. end, while there is still one event to go.
The outcome in Barcelona
Needless to say, the two men have truly dominated the 2024 MotoGP world championship. Although they have missed a few chances to score big points this season, these are details that will allow one of them to lift the crown.
Jorge Martín, however, greatly increased his level of play compared to his last campaign in MotoGP. Where Bagnaia let some flaws show, with numerous errors in Sprint in particular. Note that with the old weekend format, during which the Sprint race did not exist, Bagnaia would be leader with the same advantage as Martin. Namely 24 points.
Regardless, everything is still mathematically possible. See you in Barcelona, the weekend of November 15 to 17, 2024, to find out who, Martin or Bagnaia, will win this duel.
