Jorge Martin secured the 2024 MotoGP World Championship after finishing third in the Solidarity Grand Prix of Barcelona. Francesco Bagnaia dominated the race from pole position to claim his 11th Sunday win of the season.
Martin’s title marks a historic moment as he becomes the first independent team rider to win the championship in the modern MotoGP era.
The Pramac rider’s consistent performance, featuring seven sprint victories and three grand prix wins, sealed his triumph in his final race with Ducati and Pramac before his move to Aprilia in 2025.
Starting the race with a 19-point lead over Bagnaia, who cut the deficit by winning the sprint on Saturday, Martin needed a podium finish to secure the title.
Bagnaia grabbed the holeshot off the line and immediately led the field on his factory Ducati, while Martin slotted into second. Gresini’s Marc Marquez, however, overtook Martin at Turn 1 on lap two and began closing in on Bagnaia.
The duo of Bagnaia and Marquez pulled a slight gap from Martin, who faced pressure from Bagnaia’s teammate Enea Bastianini.
However, Martin got some relief when Aleix Espargaro engaged in a fierce battle with Bastianini, ultimately coming out on top. This skirmish allowed Martin to hold a solid third place throughout the race.
Bagnaia led every lap, gradually extending his advantage over Marquez. By lap 15, his lead grew to over half a second and continued to widen until he crossed the finish line with a comfortable margin. Martin, isolated in third after Espargaro’s intervention, clinched the championship by a 10-point margin.
In the fight for fourth, Alex Marquez on the second Gresini Ducati narrowly beat Espargaro, who finished fifth in his final MotoGP race. Brad Binder made a remarkable charge from 18th on the grid to claim sixth for KTM, securing fifth in the championship standings.
Bastianini finished seventh, which was enough to confirm Marc Marquez as third overall in the championship standings. Franco Morbidelli took eighth for Pramac, ahead of Marco Bezzecchi, who completed his last race with VR46 in ninth place.
Pedro Acosta, the Tech3 rookie, struggled to a tenth-place finish. Fabio Quartararo brought his Yamaha home in 13th, just ahead of Miguel Oliveira in 12th, who ends his stint with Trackhouse. Jack Miller’s final race with KTM saw him finish 11th.
Johann Zarco was the top Honda finisher in 14th, while Maverick Vinales rounded out the points in 15th as he looks ahead to a switch to KTM in 2025. Takaaki Nakagami ended his MotoGP career with a 17th-place finish, while Honda’s Joan Mir crashed out of the race.
