One year ago today, the main race of the Valencia Grand Prix hosted the final act of the fight between Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia. In fact, we had to wait until the very last moments of the 2023 MotoGP season to discover the name of the new world champion.
While conceding points to the Spaniard in the Sprint, the Ducati rider took advantage of Martín's fall during the final round of the season to claim his second world crown in the premier category.
The task will not have been easy. Only fourteen points separated him from his closest pursuer before the lights went out. During this race, Bagnaia will have had many rivals. His path to victory was built by parrying the numerous attacks of his opponents. While taking advantage of a few falls, to be crowned with honors.
This trophy rewarded an exceptional 2023 season. In 20 weekends of competition, the Ducati rider had won 6 victories in the main race, as well as 4 of the 19 Sprints (following the cancellation of the event in Australia). The Italian also had 8 pole positions and 14 podiums before being crowned on enemy soil.
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©Michelin
One year later, Jorge Martin's revenge
The two Ducati riders had already buried the competition at the time. They had mathematically established themselves as the only two contenders for the title from the Malaysian Grand Prix, as was the case in 2024. In total they had shared 10 top-3s on Saturday against 5 podiums on Sunday.
Already impressive figures, which nevertheless do not equal the 2024 campaign that the two men completed a few months later, aboard the Desmosedici GP24. If this duel had already left its mark, the one between the two Borgo Panigale drivers this year should remain more memorable.
A year later, Pecco Bagnaia had the best season of his career. Insufficient efforts to renew his coronation. Instead, Jorge Martin took his revenge from 2023 before bidding farewell to Ducati. The Spaniard will now begin his new adventure with Aprilia.
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