He gave himself the nom de guerre “Martinator”. In reference of course to the famous (mechanical) character of the Terminator, in James Cameron's film. We are talking about Jorge Martin, the Spanish rider who wears the number 89 and who throughout 2023 was the main rival of Ducati factory rider Francesco Bagnaia.
The Martinator, member of the independent Pramac team (Ducati), crashed in the last race of the championship last year, in Valencia (read our article), and Bagnaia won a new world title, his second in MotoGP. Martin had to settle for the title of vice-champion.
But 2024 was the year of revenge for the number 89. It began in March, by winning the Sprint race of the Qatar Grand Prix. But the next day, in the “long” race, Bagnaia, only fourth in the Sprint race, dotted the “i”s by winning the Grand Prix – ahead of KTM rider Brad Binder and, precisely, Jorge Martin.
At the next Grand Prix, the Martinator was able to take advantage of a fall by Bagnaia in the long race, and he took his first victory of the season. And the rest of the year was the scene of a merciless struggle between the two men.
Until the last Grand Prix of 2024, which was supposed to take place, once again, in Valencia. The weather and climate change disrupted the program, with deadly floods hitting the city and the region. After some procrastination, Dorna, the MotoGP organizing company, decided that we were not going to add the additional burden of a Grand Prix to the troubles of Valencians.
We decided fairly quickly for the Catalan circuit of Montmelò, near Barcelona, a few hundred kilometers away. And the entire paddock immediately decreed that we were going to raise money to help the victims of Valencia, notably through the sale of objects at auction. Money made available to the Spanish Red Cross. Hence the name of this last 2024 event, the Catalonia-Barcelona Solidarity Grand Prix.
Arriving at Montmelo, Bagnaia was 21 points behind the Martinator. The Italian had certainly racked up more victories than his opponent in the Sunday races, but he had also experienced more retirements due to falls than him. Jorge Martin has indeed approached his 2024 season a little differently, by working mentally, to manage to maintain a little caution in the races and ensure a result as often as possible.
With a 21-point lead, the Martinator could already win the title in the Sprint race of this last Grand Prix. But Bagnaia's record pole on Saturday, ahead of Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) and Marc Marquez (Gresini team, Ducati), and the Martinator's fourth place, complicated his task.
Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia (number 1) got off to a good start when the lights went out, but Martin placed his Ducati GP 24 inside, thinking he could take control of the race. This was without counting on Bagnaia's teammate, Enea Bastianini (number 23), author of a superlative first turn race, who overtook everyone and took the lead.
Bagnaia took advantage of a slightly too wide trajectory from the Martinator to slip behind number 23. Then he took the advantage of his teammate and moved to the front. Number 89 had no room for error, it must not fall. He overtook Bastianini the first time, but a few laps later the latter came back. Then the Martinator was able to execute the same maneuver (at the end of the pit straight) a second time and he thought he was out of the woods. If he succeeded in taking Pecco's place, he would become champion. And otherwise, he would start the last race with a nice advantage.
But Bestianini played his best and overtook Martin again on the last lap. The trio composed in order of Bagnaia-Bastianini and Martin reached the “podium” of the last Sprint race of the season. Mister Martinator was then 19 points ahead of his rival.
Pecco did better on his first straight the next day and took control of the 24 laps of Sunday's race, the very last of the season.
Jorge Martin was surprised in the second round by a very fit Marc Marquez, while Bastianini was able to climb to third place, ahead of Aleix Espargaro. That said, Martin would have had to finish much lower than second or third for Bagnaia to have a chance of securing a third consecutive title in the premier class.
The number 1 won the race, ahead of Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin. And so the Martinator finally took the title it had dreamed of for so many years. The first rider from an independent team to achieve this feat in the current era of MotoGP. With the same machine, basically, as its opponent, the 2024 version of the Ducati, but perhaps not with all the resources of the Italian manufacturer's racing department at its disposal, and with a formidable rival facing it.
The Martinator was more consistent than Bagnaia
Jorge Martin, however, has shown more consistency than Bagnaia this season, and he fully deserves his crown. This is his second title, after that of Moto3, in 2018 – on a Honda. Since moving up to MotoGP in 2021, Martin has scored seven victories (Sprint races are not counted), including 4 in 2024, but 32 podiums, half of which in 2024!
Marc Marquez, with this last podium, stole third place in the championship from Bastianini, who was only able to obtain seventh place in Barcelona, after a series of skirmishes with Aleix Espargaro which ended to the advantage of the Aprilia rider .
For the complete results of the last Grand Prix of 2024 in MotoGP, click here.
Testing for the new Grand Prix season began the next day in Barcelona. We now know the complete grid. We know, for example, that eight-time world champion Marc Marquez will be Bagnaia's new teammate at Ducati. But also that the Martinator replaces at Aprilia Aleix Espargaro, who retires from racing and becomes a test rider at Honda. Martin will team up with Marco Bezzecchi, as Maverick Vinales, Aleix Espargaro's teammate, leaves for the KTM Tech3 satellite team, with Enea Bastianini.
The Pramac team moves from Ducati to Yamaha, and lines up Miguel Oliveira (currently with Trackhouse Aprilia) and Jack Miller (who leaves KTM).
The KTM factory team will be made up of Brad Binder and young prodigy (Moto3 and Moto2 world champion) Pedro Acosta, who spent his first year in MotoGP in the Tech3 GasGas-KTM satellite team.
At Gresini, we lose Marc Marquez (but we keep his brother Alex), and we replace him with Fermin Aldeguer, who is coming up from Moto2.
At VR46 (the team of ex-MotoGP star Valentin Rossi), Fabio Di Giannantonio will team up with Franco Morbidelli, who arrives from Pramac and takes the place left vacant by Bezzecchi.
Finally the LCR Honda team keeps the Frenchman Johann Zarco. But the retirement of Takaaki Nakagami allows the Thai Somkiat Chantra to “move up” (from Moto2). And at Trackhouse (still Aprilia) Ai Ogura comes to support Raul Fernandez.
Nothing is moving, however, in the Honda factory team (Luca Marini and Joan Mir), nor at Yamaha (Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins).
Aron Canet, Moto2 vice-champion, behind Ai Ogura, and David Alonso, Moto3 champion
In Moto2 (Triumph engines), the title was already awarded at the Thailand Grand Prix, the penultimate of the season, to the Japanese Ai Ogura (MT Helmets MSI team, Boscoscuro chassis). Ogura then crashed at the Malaysian Grand Prix (Sepang), won by Celestino Vietti (team red Bull KTM Ajo, Kalex chassis).
In Barcelona, it was Aron Canet (team Fantic, Kalex), then second in the championship, who took pole, ahead of Manuel Gonzalez (team Gresini, Kalex) and Zonta Van Der Goorbergh (RW-Idrofoglia, Kalex). And it was also he who won the race, without discussion, ahead of Gonzalez and an excellent Diogo Moreira (Italtrans team, Kalex), this is his first year in the category.
Canet therefore secured his place as Moto2 world vice-champion, ahead of Gonzalez and Sergio Garcia, Ogura's teammate who had led the championship for a while. Fermin Aldeguer (Speedup team, Boscoscuro chassis), who was injured in Valencia during testing, finished 4th.
In Moto3, the Colombian David Alonso (CFMOTO, number 80), already crowned at the Japanese Grand Prix, five Grand Prix before the end, signed a new pole position (and a new circuit record in this category).
He then won the race, as a fine tactician, ahead of Daniel Holgado (GasGas-KTM) and Angel Piqueras (Honda) and thus obtained his 14th victory of the year!
Holgado made sure to finish vice-champion, ahead of Collin Veijer (Husqvarna-KTM).
Alonso moves to Moto2 in 2025, in the same Aspar CFMOTO team. His teammate will be… a certain Daniel Holgado!
For complete results in Moto2, click here, and in Moto3, here.
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