The 2024 season finale awaits with Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia battling to become MotoGP world champion.
In a repeat of 2023, the two Ducati riders will go head-to-head, with Martin looking to become a first-time MotoGP champion and Bagnaia looking to win three in a row and equal Jorge Lorenzo, Wayne Rainey and Kenny Roberts Sr in the all-time lists.
Martin is on the cusp of that elusive first championship crown, with the satellite Pramac rider possessing a 24-point lead over Bagnaia going into the last round.
Motorsport Week dissects the stats from the 2024 season from the two championship protagonists.
Sprint races
The 2023 season signified the introduction of the Sprint race formats, and that year Martin produced nine Sprint race wins together to take the championship to the season finale in Valencia.
The Spaniard carried over this incredible form into the 2024 season as he accumulated seven Sprint race wins and is a distant leader in point-scoring positions on Saturdays.
However, it took Bagnaia seven races to win his first Sprint race of the season, which arrived in Tuscany for the Mugello round, where he completed the clean sweep of pole position, Sprint, and Grand Prix winner.
The two-time champion went on to win five more races on Saturday. Across the season, Saturday results again told a significant part of the story. The Italian posted retirements at Jerez, Le Mans, Catalunya, Silverstone, and the penultimate round in Malaysia.
Total Sprint points earned:
Martin: 164
Bagnaia: 116
Total Sprint race retirements:
Martin – 2
Bagnaia – 5
Grand Prix wins in 2024: Martin 3, Bagnaia 10
Despite earning more points in the Sprint race, Martin has only won three Grand Prix races in 2024. Wins at Portimao, Le Mans, and Indonesia equal wins of incumbent third-placed championship rider Marc Marquez.
Despite having the same wins, Marquez is a distant 100+ points behind in the championship. The Pramac rider’s consistency portrayed his advantage over the rest of the field.
However, despite being 24 points adrift of the leader, Bagnaia’s season is his greatest yet. Even if he doesn’t win the Grand Prix at the season finale, the Turin maestro will win exactly half the races across the whole season.
This level of dominance is on par with that of his future 2025 teammate, Marquez; three-time MotoGP champion Lorenzo; Ducati’s other premier-class champion, Casey Stoner; and not forgetting his mentor, Valentino Rossi.
The two-time champion has raised the bar on Sundays this season, but what can’t be ignored is the manner of his victories. His perfectionist mentality has made him truly dominant in assembling race victories in Mugello, Assen, and Spielberg.
Bagnaia leads points from Sunday races
Considering the pure superiority of wins achieved across the season, it’s no surprise that Bagnaia leads the championship based on Sunday races alone. However, the lead is not as high as expected initially.
Aside from Jerez and Sachsenring, Martin has accompanied Bagnaia on the podium in each race. The Spaniard finished second in every race behind Bagnaia, the only exception arriving at Mugello, where the second factory Ducati rider, Enea Bastianini, overtook Martin at the final corner on the last lap.
These damage limitation results have helped Martin, and the gap between the pair is 24 points. Bagnaia’s 48-point losses in the Sprint races have left him 24 points short in the championship classification.
Total Sunday points
Bagnaia – 345
Martin – 321
Barcelona race weekend recap ahead of 2024 season finale
MotoGP confirmed last week that the season finale will now be held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Earlier this year, it proved to be one of the biggest catalysts of the season so far for the two championship rivals.
Aleix Espargaro picked up the Sprint race victory, while Martin finished in fourth place, but Bagnaia crashed on the final lap at Turn 5 while leading.
Despite making up for it in the Grand Prix the following day by taking victory, Bagnaia climbed up to second in the championship and was a 2024 record high of 39 points between him and Martin when in the top two of the standings.
Bagnaia responded to produce the double at Mugello and Assen, and took the championship lead at Sachsenring after a last-lap crash from Martin, winning four Grand Prix in a row.
Martin made no slips up from summer break aside from a Misano tyre choice blunder when opting for wets on a slightly damp track, but Bagnaia had a collision with Alex Marquez in Aragon and crashed out in the second Misano race.
Other Martin vs Bagnaia head-to-head stats
Podiums: (Total)
Martin: 30
Bagnaia: 24
Wins: (Total)
Martin – 9
Bagnaia -16
