Mathieu Warnier, Media365: published on Sunday November 17, 2024 at 9:30 p.m.
Crowned world champion against Francesco Bagnaia this Sunday in Barcelona, Jorge Martin was able to take advantage of his ability to make fewer mistakes, and especially less costly mistakes, than his opponent to have the last word in an intense season until at the end.
This is a question that Francesco Bagnaia will ask himself for a long time. How is it possible to see the title of world champion denied to you at the end of a race marked by eleven victories in 20 Grand Prix and five successes in sprint races? However, this is what happened to the Italian driver at the end of an epic duel with Jorge Martin concluded this Sunday in Barcelona. The key was the consistency of the Pramac team driver, who had the same equipment as his rival. In fact, the Spaniard was only forced to retire twice on Sunday, first at Jérez de la Frontera then at the Sachsenring. But above all, the “Martinator” has made the podium a habit. Beyond his two retirements, the native of Madrid missed one of the first three places only during two Grands Prix, that of the Americas with a fourth place and that of San Marino with the fifteenth position under the checkered flag. A race which was marked by a major error made by Jorge Martin, when he decided to enter the pits to switch to a motorcycle fitted with rain tires when this was not necessary.
Martin was able to take better advantage of Bagnaia's errors
For his part, Francesco Bagnaia may have shined on Sunday with sixteen podiums, but his rare failures in the Grand Prix allowed his opponent to make the difference each time. In fact, his falls cost him 65 points when Jorge Martin “only” lost 50 points. When we realize that the difference in the end was only ten lengths, the count is quickly done. Over the entire season, if the Italian will have scored more points than the Spaniard on eleven occasions, his errors will have been more costly to him. Francesco Bagnaia notably lost a whopping 28 points in Aragon, where he was only able to score one point compared to 29 for Jorge Martin. Figures which do not lie and which allow the “Martinator” to be the first driver not belonging to a factory team to win the world champion title during his fourth season in the premier category. A coronation which could also be seen as a snub to Ducati which preferred to dismiss Jorge Martin to open the doors of its official team to Marc Marquez, pushing the Madrilenian to Aprilia, where he could wear the number 1 in 2025.
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