Written by Owen Bradley
Graphic Made by: Owen Bradley and Umut Yelbaşı
MotoGP's Championship-Deciding finale was one which many fans were eagerly anticipating, 14 points separating defending champion, Francesco Bagnaia and the Challenger, Jorge Marin.
1st Francesco Bagnaia
2nd Johann Zarco
3rd Brad Binder
4th Fabio Di Giannantonio (Penalised due to Tyre Pressures)
5th Raul Fernandez
6th Alex Marquez
7th Franco Morbidelli
8th Aleix Espargaro
9th Luca Marini
10th Maverick Vinales
11th Fabio Quartararo
12th Takaaki Nakagami
13th Lorenzo Savadori
14th Pol Espargaro
15th Alex Rins
16th Jack Miller
17th Enea Bastianini
18th Augusto Fernandez
19th Marc Marquez
20th Jorge Martin
21st Marco Bezzecchi
Valencia Grand Prix
Credit: Javier Soriano
Bagnaia was promoted to Pole Position due to a penalty for Maverick Vinales, increasing his chances of becoming the 2023 Champion. Martin needed to win the race, and Bagnaia had to finish outside the Top 5 for Martin to be World Champion, but with many referencing 2006 and Valentino Rossi's crash from the championship lead, there was still every opportunity that Martin could pull off a miracle.
Martin started exceptionally, jumping from 5th to 2nd just on the run down into Turn 1, and began chasing his Championship rival. However, on Lap 2, Martin would run incredibly wide after trying to chase Bagnaia down to the first corner, making light contact with his rival. This set him back to P6, and 2.5 seconds away from Bagnaia.
Credit: Jose Jordan
Martin began overriding his bike in an attempt to catch up, with 25 laps still remaining, he was making super aggressive moves and eventually, this would be his greatest error. He was carving his way through aggressively, but one man you cannot do this to, is Marc Marquez. Marquez had the corner in Turn 4, but Martin just poked his nose in and sent Marquez flying off the bike, and himself off into the gravel, crashing out of the race. A dangerous move which had a lot of criticism from the commentators. Unfortunately, the fairytale story of a satellite team snatching the championship from a factory team, was not to be.
After receiving the news that Martin was out, Bagnaia began easing up on his bike, allowing Binder and Miller through to take the lead. However both KTM's would make mistakes, with Binder running wide into Turn 11, and Miller crashing out of the fast left-hander of Turn 10 a few laps later, Miller has had a tough season and even when he has gone well, he eventually crashes.
Credit: Jose Jordan
Bagnaia would re-take the lead of the race, being chased by Johann Zarco and Fabio DiGi, who is still fighting for a seat in MotoGP 2024. DiGi would chase all the way to the line, very nearly stealing the lead from Bagnaia. DiGi is the favourite now for the VR46 Bike in 2024, which Luca Marini is now leaving seemingly for Repsol Honda.
Bagnaia would take a thrilling and emotional victory, shaking hands with his championship rival and friend, Martin.
Credit: Javier Soriano
One thing is certain, MotoGP in 2024 is going to be absolutely fantastic, with Marc Marquez on a Ducati, along with Martin and Bagnaia's rivalry continuing, and the dark horses of Marco Bezzecchi and (likely) Fabio DiGI on the VR46 Bikes next year too.
Post-Season shakedown testing takes place on Tuesday, with Marc Marquez on a Ducati and Luca Marini most likely on the Repsol Honda. We will be LIVE, on this website with full details, timings and images. Tune into our website on Tuesday, for these updates.
Credit: Jose Jordan
Finally, a personal note from Me, I want to personally thank Dorna Sports and the FIM for accrediting Me at the British GP MotoGP round, an experience I did not take for granted, and one which I will remember for the rest of my life. In 2024, I will see you all for interviews, coverage of the Grands Prix and much more in the MotoGP paddock, as well as the Formula One, World Endurance and GT World Challenge paddocks too.
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