The key moments in Bagnaia’s 2023 MotoGP title defence
Bagnaia made history in 2021 when he overturned a 91-point deficit to end a 15-year wait for Ducati’s second world title in MotoGP. Dominant in the first half of 2023, Bagnaia led the championship by 66 points after the sprint in Barcelona only to crash out of that grand prix and suffer injury in a […]
Bagnaia wins title after Martin crashes into Marquez
Bagnaia and Martin came into the championship decider in Valencia split by 14 points after the latter won the sprint on Saturday. Ducati rider Bagnaia only needed to finish fifth to seal the deal, and started from pole following a penalty for poleman Maverick Vinales after he ignored the meatball flag in warm-up for a […]
Full Moto2 and Moto3 race results
Both the Moto2 and Moto3 championships were already decided coming into the final round of the 2023 season. In the 20-lap Moto3 grand prix, championship runner-up Ayumu Sasaki finally took his first win of the season in a tense race. The Intact GP Husqvarna rider narrowly beat Aspar’s David Alonso by 0.082 seconds, having taken […]
Vinales grid penalty promotes Bagnaia to Valencia MotoGP pole
Vinales scored his first pole as an Aprilia rider and first since Assen 2021 on Saturday at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit with a new lap record. The Aprilia rider rued his medium rear tyre choice, however, and dropped to fourth having led briefly during the 13-lap race. In the 10-minute warm-up session on Sunday morning, […]
Tyre penalty deciding title «worse» image for MotoGP than Morbidelli slap
The 2023 MotoGP championship battle between Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin will be decided in Sunday’s grand prix final in Valencia. After winning the sprint on Saturday, Martin now trails Bagnaia by just 14 points, with the latter needing to finish at least fifth to ensure his second crown. Saturday saw the first tyre pressure […]
How the 2023 MotoGP world champion can be won in Valencia
After a dramatic Qatar Grand Prix, in which Bagnaia finished second while Martin struggled to a season-worst 10th due to a rear tyre issues, the gap between the pair stands at 21 points. Bagnaia has led the championship at the end of each weekend since the Spanish Grand Prix, only losing it once briefly in that […]
Martin will get factory Ducati MotoGP seat if he wins championship in Valencia
In recent weeks, Martin’s title charge against Francesco Bagnaia has brought about rumours that he could be moved up to the factory Ducati squad in 2024 to replace Bastianini if he wins the championship. This was confirmed as an option by Ducati during the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend, before Bastianini scored an emphatic first victory […]
Martin will be «more in trouble than today» for MotoGP title decider
With 21 points splitting factory Ducati rider Bagnaia and Pramac’s Martin coming into this weekend’s finale, Bagnaia could have won the championship in the sprint by outscoring his rival by at least four points. Despite leading early on, Bagnaia could only finish fifth as Martin stormed through to win and trimmed his points deficit to […]
Martin «had big balls» to win vital Valencia MotoGP sprint
Martin came from sixth on the grid to score his ninth sprint win of the 2023 season. With title rival Francesco Bagnaia only fifth after struggling on his medium rear tyre, Martin has cut the championship deficit down from 21 points to 14 ahead of Sunday’s grand prix finale. When asked by Motorsport.com if this […]