The final round of the MotoGP season has arrived after a cancellation of the season finale in Valencia due to weather. Jorge Martin comes into the race weekend with a 24 point lead in a must win situation for Bagnaia. The scenarios for Martin to win the title include many possibilities in tomorrow’s sprint race:
Barcelona Sprint Race Outcomes
| If Martin wins… | Bagnaia’s finishing position will not matter |
| If Martin finishes second… | Bagnaia must finish third or lower |
| If Martin finishes third… | Bagnaia must finish fifth or lower |
| If Martin finishes fourth… | Bagnaia must finish sixth or lower |
| If Martin finishes fifth… | Bagnaia must finish seventh or lower |
| If Martin finishes sixth… | Bagnaia must finish eighth or lower |
| If Martin finishes seventh… | Bagnaia must finish ninth or lower |
| If Martin finishes eighth… | Bagnaia must finish 10th or lower |
| If Martin finishes ninth or lower… | The title fight will continue until the grand prix |
There are 37 points up for grabs this weekend and Bagnaia will need a miracle if he is to retain the MotoGP title. If Martin finishes Saturday’s sprint race with more than a 25 point lead Bagnaia will be statistically eliminated from contention.
Practice Results
Jorge Martin extended his championship lead on Francesco Bagnaia after an early mistake saw Bagnaia crash out of the sprint. Bagnaia lost the front end from P2 behind Martin who never looked back after getting past the pole sitter Bagnaia. The crash is a very costly one, as every point lost at this stage of the season is another lost opportunity for Bganaia to climb out of the point deficit to Martin. Martin currently holds a 29 point lead heading into Sunday’s grand prix.
With the next round in limbo the championship may have been decided today as the final round of the season has been cancelled due to ongoing challenges with flooding in Valencia. A replacement race has not yet been announced. With the decision to extend the season in limbo Bagnaia’s crash has all but sealed the championship for Martin. Logistically without a confirmed race for the season finale many will argue that a replacement race may not be feasible given the time constraints. We will report back on these findings as they come to light.
Sepang Sprint Race Results
The following press release was not written by Speed Trap Magazine Staff
From MotoGP and Dorna
MotoGP™ stands with the Community of Valencia following the devastating floods that have affected the area. Our hearts are with all those who have been lost and those who have lost so much.
We have been in constant contact with the local authorities and the circuit to best assess how we can help and how we should proceed. We have a responsibility to every region where we race that goes far beyond the sport and the events.
After carefully weighing up the potential positive impact of MotoGP™ racing in Valencia on delayed dates versus ensuring no single resource is diverted from the recovery efforts by the presence of MotoGP™ , the championship and local authorities have been obliged to cancel the 2024 Valencia GP.
In lieu of racing in Valencia, MotoGP™ will instead race for Valencia. The championship will put our collective efforts behind backing the relief funds already in place to ensure our positive impact can connect with the area in the way it best serves the people and communities we have been part of for so long.
Our efforts will begin during the Malaysian GP and continue at the final round of 2024, with a new venue and dates to be announced as soon as confirmed.
Fans around the world, our athletes, and paddock deserve a sporting finale to the 2024 season, and one that can make a key contribution to supporting the communities we race in.
Any further information regarding the season finale will be confirmed as soon as possible.
Francesco Bagnaia wowed the masses after a brilliant performance in the Thai grand prix this afternoon in wet conditions. Bagnaia battled it out with Marc Marquez at the front until catastrophe ended Marquez’s race allowing Jorge Martin to inherit P2. Bagnaia won the race by 3 seconds. He said, “This morning, after the warm-up, I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t worried, though, because I knew we had the potential to do well, but we had to fix something in terms of bike behavior under braking: we managed to do so, and I felt better straight away. When Jorge tried to pull away early on, I chose to wait a couple of laps as I had noticed that he was taking many risks. The battle with Marc (Márquez was really good and before his crash, we were really lapping at an incredible pace. I’d like to dedicate this win to the team, because as usual they have done a fantastic job.”
Jorge Martin had brief words after the race. “I felt really good in the warm-up and was ready for the race. I got off to a really good start, but at some point, I felt the front of my bike closing up…I managed to save it, although I lost two positions. After that, I did my best to maintain the gap with the riders behind, taking many risks. I’m happy with this second place, even if I lost five points in the championship, but I’m already the best independent rider, for the second year in a row.”
Martin still leads the MotoGP championship and talks of championship clinching scenarios are already flying. Martin holds a 17 point lead over Bagnaia. The riders get back to it in Malaysia next weekend.
Full Race Results
Enea Bastianini reminded the MotoGP front runners that he still has what it takes to top the table today at Chang. In a dominant performance Enea Bastianini topped the Thai grand prix sprint race beating championship leader Jorge martin by just under 1.5 seconds. Despite a better start, Bagnaia lost out on move from Martin in to turn 1 and would eventually settle for P3 in the race. Bagnaia had a bit of an off which saw him drop to P5 momentarily and it was a scrap to get back to the podium places. In the commotion Bastianini put his head down and charge forward forming a gap ahead of the squabble behind.
“It was a great race,” said Bastianini. I took advantage of (Jorge) Martin’s mistake at turn one as I saw he had hit the brakes very late, and I knew he couldn’t make the turn stick. I then tried to pull away a little in the first two-three laps and managed to do so, and from then on things were a lot easier – even though the others were never too far behind for the whole race. In the end we managed to take the win in a much more comfortable way than we expected, even though it’s never easy.”
Martin expressed his frustrations saying “It has been a very difficult race. I made a good start, but at the first turn, I lost a position to avoid an accident. Then, I had to push more than expected and overtake riders like Acosta and Pecco, who are really strong on the brakes, which was complicated. It has been a good Sprint, but I know that tomorrow more riders will improve, and it is essential to start well, keep calm, and do our best.”
Sprint Race Results
Marc Marquez impresses once again with an impressive win at Phillip Island in the Australian grand prix. Maruqez secured his third win of the season. A feat that few though was possible for the veteran and 8 time world champion. “We had a big race today against Martín and we had fun,” said Marquez. “This win is surely a confidence boost and we need to follow on this type of results in the last three events. I had to remove one tear-off at the start because I had a huge fly over it that was preventing me from seeing what was in front of me… and then you all saw what happened. From then on, we had the pace from then on to battle for second place: I gave it a go and when I got close to Jorge, I realized that it was possible to win.”
Marquez leaves the weekend 59 points behind Francesco Bagnaia. With 3 race weekends to go. Marquez realistically has a path forward to fight for the championship. He is currently 79 points behind Jorge Martin. With 3 sprint races and 3 grand prix left there are plenty of points still up for grabs. The MotoGP championship battle has emerged as a three man race at the front. At this point in the season mistakes will be costly.
Bagnaia Losing Ground to Marquez
Bagnaia who seemingly had isolated himself at the front of the championship race with Martin now finds himself threatened by Marquez in the championship points race. Bagnaia who has trailed Martin for most of the season finished finished behind Martin once again. Bagnaia was obviously not happy with the result. “Obviously I’m not happy with the result, but we could have hardly done any better today,” he said. “We managed to improve a little compared to yesterday and I did all I could to stay with Jorge (Martín) and Marc (Márquez) but ended up struggling on corner entry – and they were simply better than us today. The next two circuits on the calendar are usually better for me feeling-wise, and we’ll make sure to be ready.”
MotoGP World Championship Standings After Australia
After securing a marginal pole position Jorge Martin threw down the hammer in the sprint race; finishing ahead of Marc Marquez by 1.5 seconds. As the MotoGP season is winding down to the closing rounds Martin has seemingly turned up the heat a bit. His championship battle with Francesco Bagnaia has been back and forth. However, Bagnaia did him a favor in this race finishing P4. The win meant that Martin extended his championship lead to 16 points headed into Sunday’s Grand Prix.
In the field behind there were multiple incidents the most severe being the collision between Maverick Viñales and Marco Bezzecchi. The riders touched into turn 1. Both riders gained consciousness by the end of the incident. Both riders were summoned to the medical center after the race to determine fitness to continue this weekend in Australia.
Qatar Airways Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix Sprint Results
The Grand Prix Commission confirmed today that the decision has been made to rune 2025 spec machines in 2026 in an effort to maintain a level playing field in the MotoGP championship. The FIM released the following memo.
The battle for the top spot in the 2024 MotoGP championship has been a game of tug o war between Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia. In the Mandalika sprint race Martin crashed from the from the lead and lost out on valuable points that would’ve shut the door on any comeback by Bagnaia this weekend. Martin was however able to recover to P10. Bagnaia’s post race mood was on the opposite end of the spectrum while he celebrated the.
Bagnaia said, “I’m very happy with this win. It wasn’t an easy race, as the track temperature was the highest ever encountered so far at this track. This morning, we managed to make another step forward and in qualifying I understood how to be effective in the first two sectors. I still struggle at turns 15 and 16, but it’s a very tricky point where I almost tucked the front on a couple of occasions. This is why in the race I pushed as hard as I could in the first three sectors, as I knew I wasn’t the fastest rider in the last split. This is a strategy that could have worked only today, so we’ll keep working in the warmup in order to improve some more ahead of the race.”
Enea Bastianini’s finished P2 in the sprint ahead of Marc Maruqez and has opened up the possibility of contending for the championship title race. Martin now holds a 12 point lead over Bagnaia and a 50 point lead over Bastianini. There are enough races for the top of the table to shift in any direction come the final round of the season and the battle for 2024’s championship is heating up. Referring to the race
Bastianini said “It was a good sprint race; too bad for the start and especially for the mistake at turn one, which compromised a bit my chances of winning today. I had a good pace and I was very competitive under braking, and that allowed me to bridge the gap and to overtake a few riders. Tomorrow’s race will definitely be a tough one: Jorge crashed today, but he’ll be very competitive tomorrow. The fact that we’ll likely have to go for the medium rear tire will mix things up a bit further.” Marc Marquez rounded out the top three.
Full Sprint Race Results From Mandalika
Jorge Martin secured pole position in Indonesia in record setting fashion after shattering the lap record and secured pole position for the upcoming Sprint and Grand Prix. Martin was in a world of his own finishing over a half a second ahead of Marco Bezzecchi. Pedro Acosta returned to the top 3 for the Gas Gas MotoGP side. The finish again didn’t do Francesco Bagnaia’s championship hopes any good after he finished fourth and never really challenged for pole position. Similarly where Bagnaia’s teammate found early success in the weekend he too fell short of expectation finishing qualifying P5. Both Ducati Lenovo riders will start on the second row and will lean on a good start to get them back in to contention for tomorrow’s sprint race.
Despite a crash in the session Bastianini walked away from qualifying unscathed.
Qualifying Results