In the first laps, Bagnaia and Quartararo had a tough duel for fifth place. The Italian lost part of the front end on a Ducati. Quartararo was then in fifth place. The quartet broke up at the front, and shrank to a treble after the downfall of Marc Marquez (Honda). Behind them, Quartararo was unable to close the gap at the top and was far from putting Bagnaya under pressure with the stage win they needed.
Bagnaia was aware of the situation, no longer took unnecessary risks and allowed himself to overcome it several times without a fight. Up front, Rins defended his lead from Jorge Martin (ESP/Ducati) and South African KTM rider Brad Bender. While Quartaro finished fourth, Bajnaya finished ninth with a 17-point lead in the championship standings.
Bagnaia is the new MotoGP world champion
Francesco Bagnaia defended his comfortable lead in MotoGP and claimed his first world title in the premium moto class. A ninth place in the Valencia Grand Prix final was enough for the 25-year-old Ducati driver to keep rival and defending champion Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) in a bind.
Great return from Bagnaia
Bagnaia is the first Italian world champion since Valentino Rossi in 2009 and the first on a Ducati since 2007. The legend’s stepson Rossi also made the biggest comeback in MotoGP history. The Italian was now 91 points behind Quartararo, but started an impressive comeback in the second half of the season. Bagnaia won four consecutive races in Holland, Great Britain, Austria and San Marino.
Then, the new world champion finally set the title track with second and third places as well as another win in Malaysia. “Winning the World Cup tastes good, it’s the biggest day of my life. My goal was the top five in the race but I had big problems at the front of the bike. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter because we are the world champions,” said Bagnaia, the first Italian champion to ride an Italian bike in 50 years. Recently, the legendary Giacomo Agostini succeeded.
Rins, the winner of the day, made the perfect farewell gift for his motorcycle maker. “The season is over, Suzuki is leaving. I am very proud of everything I have learned. Thanks for everything. This is great. A new chapter begins.” Suzuki announced in May that it would be ending its MotoGP involvement after this season. Rins is moving to Honda.
The Moto2 title of Spain’s Fernandez
Meanwhile, the world champion in the Moto2 class comes from Spain. Augusto Fernandez finished second in the match behind fellow Spaniard Pedro Acosta. Fernandez won the world championship standings by 29.5 points over Japan’s Ogura.
Ogura went to the final race by 9.5 points, trailing Fernandez for the title. But the Japanese slipped over the front wheel on lap seven and fell. Fernandes didn’t have to take more risks en route to his first world title after that.
In Moto3, Spaniard Izan Guevara wrapped up his world title with his sixth win of the season. The GasGas pilot won an exciting race with a 62 millisecond lead over Turkey’s Deniz Onku (KTM). Guevara’s Spaniard Sergio Garcia (Gas Gas) finished third, and finished second in the world championship standings.
Valencia Grand Prix
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