Martín’s road to the 2024 MotoGP title
19 November 2024Jorge Martín was crowned 2024 MotoGP champion after a season-long battle for supremacy with Francesco Bagnaia in a near-mirror image of the 2023 campaign, only this time, the customer team came out on top in a classic David and Goliath match-up.
Martín scored only three GP victories to Bagnaia’s 11, so consistency was the name of the game, highlighted by Martín taking 10 second-place finishes, and racking up points in the Sprints. Eventually, that little-by-little approach paid dividends with the first Independent MotoGP title in 23 years.
Here’s how Spain’s pocket rocket finally bested the might of the manufacturer Ducati squad.
A strong start
Starting the season as he meant to go on, Martín won the opening Sprint in Qatar, but third in the Grand Prix while reigning champion Bagnaia took victory meant he trailed the Italian by four points leaving the opening round of the season.
Bagnaia’s high-profile clash with 2025 team-mate Marc Márquez at the Portuguese GP was a welcome addition to Martín’s campaign, enabling him to streak over 20 points clear of the #1 rider in the standings.
Off the boil
The next two rounds weren’t quite as fruitful, with a fourth in the GP of the Americas and a crash while in the lead of the Spanish GP significantly denting his advantage. Mercifully, Bagnaia took fifth in an equally lacklustre weekend in Texas, but victory in Jerez allowed him to slice the gap to under 20 points once more.
Domination at Le Mans
After a battle royale for the ages at Le Mans, Martín really showed his mettle by besting the two most decorated riders on the grid in the GP, taking a crucial double victory. The Spaniard was now a Sprint and GP victory clear of his main rival in the points.
The wheels fall off Martín’s wagon
In the following events, Bagnaia turned up the wick to win four in a row and five from six GPs; the Catalan GP, Italian GP, Dutch TT, German GP and the Austrian GP. As if that wasn’t enough, in that run there were three doubles at Mugello, Assen and The Red Bull Ring.
In that same period, Martín won just one race – the Sprint in Germany – and recorded four second-place finishes, one third and a pivotal DNF at the Sachsenring. As the season had just ticked over the halfway point, Bagnaia was once again at the top of the standings, but there was only 10 points in it.
Bagnaia falters
Visits to Aragon and a double-header at Misano proved to be Bagnaia’s undoing in 2024. A retirement in Spain was followed by a second-place finish in Italy, then another retirement at the second GP at Misano.
That dip in form allowed Martín to claw back valuable points. Despite a disastrous call to switch tyres in mixed conditions at Misano’s first GP, he still scored two seconds in the other GPs as well as two seconds and a win in the Sprints. Once again, he had a reasonable buffer at the top of the standings.
Carrying that momentum to Indonesia, Martín won the GP, but Bagnaia still outscored him overall with a Sprint win and third in the GP.
Consistency is key
After Indonesia, Bagnaia was back on the offensive, taking the Sprint and GP win in Japan, third in Australia’s GP and taking another GP victory in Thailand. In that same period, Martín’s unwavering consistency kept pace with Bagnaia, so much so that he only dropped three points to the Italian even with him winning two GPs in three events.
The pair went into the penultimate round separated by just 17 points. Not a sizeable buffer, but one the Spaniard had proven was manageable in the last three events.
Drama would strike Malaysian GP Sprint Race, as Pecco fell out of contention leaving Martín unchallenged for the victory, placing one hand on the championship trophy. In the GP the following day, the Italian came out on top of a fantastic early duel with Martín to taste victory and recover some of the points lost in the Sprint. The stage was finally set, and it was going down to the wire.
The finale
The factory Ducati riders did everything they had to do in the final Sprint of the season, with Bagnaia taking victory and rear-gunner Bastianini in second, putting some much-needed fresh air between his team-mate and Martín after a last lap lunge. There was just 19 points in it going into the final GP of the season.
Bagnaia was once again a man on a mission in the GP, leading from the off. Marquez took second from Martín early on, but from there, the top three held station to the flag, leaving Bagnaia 10 points shy of the title.
After 20 nail-biting rounds, Martín achieved what many believed to be impossible in the modern era of MotoGP, overcoming a factory team on a customer bike, a feat last achieved by the great Valentino Rossi.
