Welcome back to my 2024 MotoGP Season Review. If you missed Part 1, feel free to either scroll down or click here if you want to catch up on Honda, Yamaha and Aprilia. In Part 2, we’re looking at KTM and what I think could be a “House of Cards”, Ducati’s overall dominance, and the overall state of the sport heading into 2025. Let’s get into it.
KTM
KTM are in a similar position to Aprilia, which we covered in Part 1. A team that finished in second last year, going into 2024 looking to push themselves into genuine contention. At least Aprilia had a higher ceiling earlier in the year where they won a few sprints and a GP. KTM couldn’t even manage that.
Both them and their Italian counterparts both had similar yet very different development pains. While Aprilia has struggled with rear-end chatter and overheating issues, KTM has chased the elusive aerodynamic golden goose… and it hasn’t worked. They’ve largely ignored their chassis issues, because they’re still poor for mechanical grip, and on more technical circuits they were getting blown out by Ducati. Yes, they’re still second overall, but going winless on the year and Brad Binder finishing up almost 300 points off the Championship is a big disappointment for an Austrian company that’s bragged about having nearly limitless resources.
…Until now. For those who missed it, KTM’s holding company, Peirer Mobility AG is under severe financial stress. Their share price massively in the fall to just 14 Swiss Francs (They peaked at 94 in 2022) due to missing sales projections, a string of customer complaints after shoddy bike construction and loan repayments after acquiring GasGas, Husqvarna and buying out a majority stake in Italian firm MV Agusta. They need a bridging loan at the moment as they restructure the company going forward.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that when a mobility company is financially struggling, the Motorsport activities are the first to be squeezed. The subbrands are ALL going away heading into 2025, and it’s only worse given The Race reported that big sponsor Red Bull is also scaling back their Motorsport funding in life after Dietrich Mateschitz. Team principal Francesco Guidotti being removed from his post a year early for Aki Ajo felt like an inevitability given the latter’s excellent reputation running the junior teams in their colours.
See, 2025 all of a sudden is becoming a super-important year, where KTM might need to go out of its way to justify its continued existence. They have a fleet of riding talent. Brad Binder, the best non-Ducati rider for 2 years running. Pedro Acosta is a superstar in the making and is now in full factory colours. And your B-TEAM is Enea Bastianini, fourth in the 2024 standings as a multiple Sprint and GP winner, and Maverick Vinales, the only non-Duke winner of the year and with 10 top-flight victories with three different manufacturers. They should be great out of the box, no revolver has more bullets in the chamber. Both new signings seemed very happy with the KTM in post-season testing… even if Enea wrecked one towards the end of the day.
And yet… I’m not convinced. If KTM had proven to be a well-run entity with all their ducks in a row, I’d feel great about them. But they’ve not managed to develop their way to the front of the field despite having the biggest budgets and resources. What’s going to happen if/when that luxury goes away? This is the most important season for KTM since coming back. They need to get this one right. Their future may depend on it.
Brad Binder – 5th in Points (217) / 1 Podium, 1 Sprint Podium / Grand Prix Ranking – 5th / Sprint Ranking – 9th
Jack Miller – 14th in Points (87) / Best Finish – 5th (x2) / Grand Prix Ranking – 14th / Sprint Ranking – 11th (19 Races)
Brad Binder just barely held onto his mantle of “Best of the Rest” after Pedro Acosta suffered brake pressure problems in the final round in Catalunya. This wasn’t a bad season from the South African by any stretch, just a year that laid bare just how far both he and KTM are from Ducati at the moment. He podiumed at the point and power track that is Qatar and had a couple of fourth places at stronger tracks like Aragon, Portimao and Misano but Qatar was the only round he looked like he was in contention for victory, and it’s now been three and a half years since his last Grand Prix. It also doesn’t help that Pedro Acosta has come in as a rookie, essentially matched Binder with a “peakier” season, and has people doubting for the first time whether he’s the real team leader in KTM’s camp. 2025 will be a very interesting year to see who’s atop the pecking order.
As for Jack Miller, the two years just didn’t work out in Orange, it’s as simple as that. At his very best he could follow Binder around, but he never looked fully comfortable out there, there were plenty of crashes (4 DNFs and a DNS in Malaysia), and the usual Miller traits of overcooking his Michelin tyres kept cropping up. He was always going to be one of the two men sacrificed when KTM went shopping for Maverick and Enea and if anything I feel a bit bad for him he was essentially lied to about wanting to be kept in the fold. But that’s business for you. He’s got another chance with Pramac in 2025, but only on a one-year deal, so his experience with three different manufacturers needs to be on point or it could be the end of his top-flight career.
Brad Binder – 8/10 / Jack Miller – 4/10
Red Bull GasGas Tech3
Pedro Acosta – 6th in Points (215) / 1 Pole, 5 Podiums, 4 Sprint Podiums / Grand Prix Ranking – 6th / Sprint Ranking – 5th (19 Races) / 2024 Rookie of the Year
Augusto Fernandez – 20th in Points (27) / Best Finish – 10th / Grand Prix Ranking – 21st / Sprint Ranking – 19th
The hype is real. Pedro Acosta is a Superstar in the making. First year in the top flight, on a tricky KTM package and he essentially matches Brad Binder, the team leader of the last three years. Very, very impressive work. Right from the start of the season when he was rubbing shoulders with Marc Marquez, you knew the man was going to be the real deal. Raw, savage, unafraid of the big stage and the pressure that came with it.
He’s a little crash-happy for my liking still, he’ll be the first to admit he overrode the bike at times (He likes it looser and with movement ala Binder). There was a stretch down the back end where he blew a genuine shot at victory at Motegi when he crashed out early, two of a five-race streak without a finish, a highside putting him out of Philip Island with shoulder damage. But when you have more podium finishes than the rest of the non-Ducati’s COMBINED, you take the rough with the smooth. Remember, he’s still only 20 years old. If KTM can give him anything to play with, he’s going to be in the mix for wins next year.
Augusto Fernandez… *sigh*. I thought there was genuine promise after last season where he ended up being far better than expected. But it was well known early on that Augusto struggled with the 2024 bike, never feeling fully comfortable with the carbon chassis KTM installed for the season. Crash.net reported as recently as October that they still didn’t have a base setup to work with race-to-race, which kinda said it all about his season. When it took his one Top 10 of the year to break the tie with Joan Mir on the scoreboard… yeah. He’ll be heading to Yamaha in 2025 as one of their test riders.
Pedro Acosta – 8.5/10 / Augusto Fernandez – 2.5/10
Ducati
Still them. Good talk, thanks for reading.
Fun fact: They were even more dominant than last year. 19 out of 20 Grand Prix wins, 17 out of 20 Sprint wins. After Bagnaia tucked the front at Catalunya in the Sprint, Ducati didn’t lose again in 2024, over half or full distance. It’s a winning streak that currently stands at 29. They scored 96.1% of all available points this season, even more than the 95% they had in 2023. This was an onslaught. We were all thinking this may be the year that Ducati would be pegged back via the concession system but no one was able to step up to the plate.
And the main way they did it was via the GP24, a weapon of mass destruction. The first Desmo since 2021 that truly felt like a huge step in the right direction. The 23 was a great bike. More knowledgeable biking heads than me reckoned the 24 was three-tenths of a second a lap faster. I think that’s about right, and it showed. With 16 wins across the season, it might be the single best machine in Motorsport this season pound-for-pound. Once they got over the rear-end chatter problems as Michelin’s rear tyres had so much rear grip, they didn’t look back.
The only really interesting thing beyond that, was their political decisions. They’ll be question marks for next year after losing Pramac as their main customer to Yamaha, and then blowing up the entire floor of their setup by rejecting Martin from a factory ride for the second time in his career, letting Enea Bastianini walk to KTM, and bringing in Marc Marquez. But don’t worry, I already know what you’re thinking: “Oh no, they only have Marc Marquez, Pecco, six bikes on the grid and a really solid #3 in Diggia, what a shame!”
The GP25 has already received glowing reviews by both Marquez and Bagnaia at the Barcelona test, so I don’t see any reason for their dominance to stop unless another factory makes major, half-a-second-plus type gains.
Brace yourselves, winter is coming.
Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team
Marco Bezzecchi – 12th in Points (153) / 1 Podium / Grand Prix Ranking – 8th / Sprint Ranking – 14th
Fabio Di Giannantonio – 10th in Points (173) / Best Finish – 4th (x2) / Grand Prix Ranking – 7th / Sprint Ranking – 12th (17 Races)
A relatively disappointing season for VR46 Racing after making huge gains last season. It’s hard not to immediately mention the struggles of Marco Bezzecchi after his breakout 2023 season. Back then, he won three GP’s and ultimately finished 3rd in the Championship. This season he dropped to 12th and lost a lot of that edge that was bringing into regular fights with the big hitters. Some of that was that previously mentioned performance gap between the GP23 and 24, some of that was the characteristics of the 23 compared to the previous 22 he excelled on.
The engine characteristics and braking meant that Bez often couldn’t get the second phase of his braking right and struggled to turn the Desmo as he did. Remember, this was the man who turned down a GP24 with Pramac to stay with VR46 and make a push for top-line equipment. He swung and he missed.
And that left Diggia to pick up the pieces, and he rode pretty well this year. For me, it was nice to see him prove his 2023 comeback with Frankie Carchedi and Gresini wasn’t a fluke and he was able to carry a little bit of consistency into VR46. He was their lead rider this season, and in the Top 10 on 14 out of the 17 races he took part in over the season. He was almost certainly going to be eighth, maybe even seventh overall until his shoulder injury plagued the back end of his season. It’s never a good sign when the Doctor tells you: “Yeah, we need to reconstruct the whole thing”. But making the Top 10 on 17 races for the year is impressive work, and I’ll be very curious what he can do on the third GP25. We’ve seen the upsides of his potential.
Marco Bezzecchi – 6/10 / Fabio Di Giannantonio – 7/10
Gresini Racing
Probably the best all-round year for Gresini Racing as a Ducati customer team. Marc Marquez was Marc Marquez, his younger brother raised the floor, and this was a genuinely fun team to watch. The double podium in Germany, the first by two brothers since the Aoki’s in 1996, was wonderful, heart-warming scenes and the stuff of dreams as they both finally got to share a GP podium together.
It’s such a shame their brilliant film posters and quirky press releases were quickly cancelled out by two horrific Social Media faux pas – The first being photoshopping the hair of white employees with dreadlocks in reference to Lewis Hamilton purchase rumours. The other being the Manuel Gonzalez headband in Japan that led to them self-immolating their QJMotor sponsorship in Moto2 for the rest of the season. Both needlessly stupid mistakes that killed off a lot of good faith with their reasonable fans. Nadia Padovani is a beloved figure, but she has to keep ALL facets of her team playing the right notes.
Marc Marquez was here for a fun time, not a long time, and while we all know where he’s heading, I’ll be intrigued about Fermin Aldeguer can do in MotoGP in 2025 and beyond. He’s an extremely raw prospect after another unpredictable season at Speed Up. He’s got speed for days, but still in my opinion, needs a lot of refinement. Luckily, he gets Frankie Carchedi as his crew chief, arguably the best on the grid and someone who did wonders with Diggia in 2023 and Marquez in 24. He’s in very safe hands.
Marc Marquez – 3rd in Points (392) / 1 Pole, 1 Sprint Win, 10 Sprint Podiums, 3 Wins, 10 Podiums / Grand Prix Ranking – 3rd / Sprint Ranking – 4th
Alex Marquez – 8th in Points (173) / 1 Podium / Grand Prix Ranking – 9th / Sprint Ranking – 10th
Let’s get Alex Marquez out of the way first because let’s be real here, you’re not here for him in this Gresini section.
This was a little bit of a frustrating year for Alex. Coming off the back of a promising 2023 campaign where he had a couple of Sprint wins and one of his best GP rides at Sepang when he was the only man keeping Enea Bastianini honest, I’m somewhat lukewarm he didn’t kick on in 2024. Now, a part of that is again, the GP23 is not as competitive, but even compared to other riders on it, he was a little lacklustre. And I’m ignoring his brother in this discussion because he was on another plane of existence.
I think two things ultimately made Alex Marquez’s season salvageable: another strong finish after fourth place in Malaysia and Catalunya 2 and three straight Top 5’s in the Sprints to close out the year. The other was his two main rivals – Fabio Di Giannantonio, who beat him to factory backing, and Frankie Morbidelli, who either was out injured or finished poorly. He just got to eighth overall on countback over Frankie and I think that eighth spot flattered him a little bit.
None of this is “bad” by any stretch of the imagination, but given we’ve seen flashes of Alex Marquez’s potential, it’s a little disappointing we just don’t see more of it at times. It’s Year 5 of him in the top flight and it’s his Age 28 season, I wonder if this is his ceiling as a rider at this point. Him on a GP24 is going to be a fascinating yardstick to compare him to the rest of Ducati’s riders, because, by all accounts, that bike is quick. I think we need to see more.
But, let the record confirm… Marc Marquez is still him.
The biggest rider move in a decade was always going to be the main event of curiosity heading into 2024, and seeing just how Marquez was going to adapt to Ducati and the lopsided state of the field. The result? A damn good season that reminded the world that Marc is still one of the very best in the world.
Now, let’s get the negatives out of the way – Marquez was the original creator of the modern-era Bozo Gene. Kazuya Mishima from Tekken. So there was always going to be some rough here and if you’re fighting three world-class riders on upgraded machinery, you’re going to have to be perfect, and Marc wasn’t. There were teething problems, especially with qualifying, getting the muscle memory in his right arm again having to learn an entirely new bike that made its lap time on the rear tyre grip rather than the front tyre from when he was in the prime of his Honda run. Qualifying was the biggest hurdle in that conversion as according to the man himself, when going all out for that lap time, you ride on instinct and revert to old habits.
And that’s somewhat frustrating because you giggle and laugh at some of the insane comebacks Marquez made throughout 2024. Going from 13th to podium finishes in the Sprint and Grand Prix in Catalunya, Le Mans and Motegi was great entertainment but also leaves the hypothetical scenario of “What if you started front row? What if you could take the front in races and take advantage of not having to follow others’ dirty air?” The sport’s greatest qualifier on pole count was only on the front row less than half the time, and likely gave himself more work than he needed to do. If Marc was a genuine title contender, this would be a significant problem compared to Martin and Bagnaia. But, given the GP23 was as mentioned, about a third of a second where it probably needed to be, overcoming that kind of deficit was always going to be immensely difficult, even for Marquez.
…But that’s the beautiful thing about Marquez’s season. So many times this year, he DID bridge that gap through sheer talent and force of will. I thought going into the year he might get two wins at his banker rounds of COTA and the Sachsenring if all went perfectly. He got three, and none of them were in those places. Aragon’s low grip and wet track were the perfect conditions for Marquez to remind everyone of the limits he can so often break for lap time. A perfect weekend and an emotional victory after over 1,000 days outside of the winner’s circle. Then he did it again less than a week later when it sprinkled in Misano and beat Bagnaia straight up. Then again at Philip Island in an incredible battle with Jorge Martin, breakneck speed and the best the GP23 looked all year. This is what Marquez is still capable of and why so many understandably think he’s the favourite for 2025.
Yes, there were some crashes here and there. Maybe, if he was perfect, he could have gotten in this title fight. But honestly… who cares? Marc Marquez is back. And man the sport is better for it.
Alex Marquez – 6.5/10 / Marc Marquez – 9/10
Prima Pramac Racing
Another end of an era moment for one of the great stories of the MotoGP grid. In back-to-back seasons, Pramac, a customer team, has won World Championships, with the teams’ title in 2023, and now the Rider’s Champion in 2024. Gino Borsoi took a chance on Jorge half a decade ago when KTM got cold feet on him, and he’s brought them their greatest success. I’ve talked about this before on the page, but I grew up as a bike fan where you only won shit if you were in Orange or Blue, and occasionally Red, as factories. A customer has been at the front of the sport for two years running. That’s a remarkable achievement and proof that Dorna’s commitment to the independents has been worthwhile.
But, this is also the end for Pramac’s 20-year relationship with Ducati, as they move to Yamaha for 2025. If anything, this makes me sad. Jorge Martin I think was the big catalyst in this switch. I don’t think the Spaniard truly believed he could win as a customer rider, as he went all out multiple times to try and get factory equipment and twice, he got knocked back. And Gino Borsoi is a rational, pragmatic team boss, he could never stand in the way of that. Once he knew Martin wasn’t coming back, he took the move that would likely protect his future, because Martin as a talent was irreplaceable, especially after Marc Marquez’s Mugello declaration he was never riding for Pramac. And a reminder, Yamaha is supplying them with a 7-year commitment, rider salaries covered, a Moto2 they now own to develop future talent and full factory support into the new regulations in 2027. It’s a huge deal that Yamaha had to give to ensure they got four bikes on the grid next year and for Pramac, it’s a viable path back to the top in the future if Yamaha figures the next regulations out.
We’ll talk about their riders in a minute, but I had to make the section more of a salute to Pramac as a whole. This was a backmarker team that struggled to attract riders, and results and battled for its existence at times. They’re now multiple World Champions and beat their factory to do it. Twice. This is one heck of a setup, and Gino Borsoi and Paolo Campinoti deserve tremendous praise for all they’ve done. Here’s to the next chapter.
Jorge Martin – 7 Pole Positions, 3 Wins, 7 Sprint Wins, 15 Sprint Podiums, 16 Podiums / Grand Prix Ranking – 2nd / Sprint Ranking – 1st / 2024 World Champion (508 Points)
Franco Morbidelli – 9th in Points (173) / 1 Sprint Podium, Best Finish – 4th / Grand Prix Ranking – 11th / Sprint Ranking – 6th
Franco Morbidelli just can’t catch a break. You could argue he was fortunate to inherit a GP24 after Marco Bezzecchi rejected the opportunity last year, and just when the 2024 season was starting, a pre-season training session in unison with World Superbikes led to a horrible crash. We didn’t find out the full details of this until Franco spoke with Autosport in September. Franco landed head-first on the tarmac so hard, it caused a blood clot in his head, and short-term memory loss. He even said he didn’t recognise his own family for a couple of weeks after the crash. It also caused him to miss the Sepang pre-season test, valuable running time that compromised his entire season. Franco said he didn’t feel comfortable with his GP24 until Mugello in June, four months later. It showed.
He was the slowest of the GP24 runners in the field, spending most of his time mingling with the 23 runners, and that was a shame. At this point, it’s probably fair to say that the 2020 Championship-contending Franco just isn’t here anymore as he reaches his 30th year of life. And that’s a shame as I think wear and tear and that knee injury in 2021 has derailed what seemed like a really promising career. But a spot in VR46 on essentially the same bike he was on this year, on a one-year “prove-it” deal makes a lot of sense. Still very solid in Sprints too, caught me by surprise he was 6th in points over half-distance. Oh no, there’s me hoping again, lemme grab the 50cc’s of copium…
Anyway, Jorge Martin. What a journey it’s been. He swore like his nickname of the Martinator that last year he’d be back in 2024, and he did, a changed rider.
The start was clumsy. He could have easily had a 60-point lead if it wasn’t for his crash while leading the Spanish GP in Jerez and did so again at the Italian GP Sprint and German GP with just two laps to go. I’ll be completely honest, we may have laid on the “Bozo Gene” allegations a little thick because that was his final crash in a GP that season, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Especially in the back half of the season, Jorge learned a Championship-defining lesson – pick your battles and fight less. It led to a more consistent, opportunistic rider, taking the chances to win in the Sprints where he could, and mitigating errors over the full distance. The stat that still leaps off the page to me is that last year, Martin had just seven podium finishes across the GP’s. This year, he had 16. Including the Sprints, that’s 31 out of 40 races. 26 of them, were second or better.
That is a rider who has raised his floor, even if we as a media collective focused more on the high-profile mistakes. Hell, looking back on it, Misano’s bike swap was an understandable play – If the rain’s just a little bit heavier, he wins at a canter and he has a huge Championship cushion, especially with Bagnaia on the back foot in damp conditions. Like coaches in the NFL realising you can afford to be more aggressive on 4th down, it was a risk you could argue was worth taking, even if it didn’t work out.
And when it mattered most, when Bagnaia went all-out down the stretch having to chase the crown for the second time in his career, he held his nerve, didn’t give Bagnaia the opportunities to take big damage out his lead, and held on to take the crown.
Jorge Martin’s career has been defined by remarkable raw speed, snubbings of his immense talent, but also Martin trying to find the refinement as a rider needed to take the ultimate step. He’s done it, and now he’s MotoGP’s first Independent World Champion in 23 years. I sincerely hope he can take that to Aprilia and be their difference-maker. Because if he does, man 2025 gets interesting…
Frankie Morbidelli – 6/10 / Jorge Martin – 9.5/10
Lenovo Ducati Team
Enea Bastianini – 4th in Points (386) / 2 Wins, 1 Pole, 9 Podiums, 2 Sprint Wins, 8 Sprint Podiums / Grand Prix Ranking – 4th / Sprint Ranking – 3rd
This was the make-or-break year for Enea Bastianini after a disastrous 2023 that was largely not of his own making. He had to make an impact early if he were to have any chance of keeping his job, and sadly… he wasn’t. Jorge Martin being in the frame wasn’t a surprise. But the pest in Enea’s side all year long was Marc Marquez, who was trading punches with him on track all season long. Not the best of looks when we all know the Antman was on a much slower bike.
Enea was somehow the fourth wheel on a date night, and that’s how his season felt. He’d occasionally ride brilliantly, his unique X-Factor in being able to handle rear tyre wear won him a couple of Grand Prix at Silverstone and Misano 2, and he’d have a knack of mounting comebacks in the final third of races. But that was often compensating for poor ultimate speed in Qualifying and getting caught up in early scraps. A rich man’s Maverick Vinales, so to speak. He finally racked up some good results, especially in the Sprints late on, but ultimately finishing six points behind Marquez in the Championship still seems a little under par.
It’s such a shame. After his brilliant 2022 season, it made total sense for Factory Ducati to take a gamble on him over Martin for the factory ride the first time around, but this time around there just wasn’t an argument you could make to keep him over Martin or the appeal of Marquez’s return to form. Let’s see what he can do on a KTM in 2025.
Francesco Bagnaia – 2nd in Points (498) / 6 Poles, 11 Wins, 16 Podiums, 7 Sprint Wins, 10 Sprint Podiums / Grand Prix Ranking – 1st / Sprint Ranking – 2nd
The fallen Champion. First of all, there’s an excellent video on social media of Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivera walking up to Pecco Bagnaia and shaking his hand, complimenting the man on his class and attitude towards him, Jorge and the nature of the title fight at large. However you feel about it, it was a genuine breath of fresh air that this was a title battle that didn’t end in nastiness and bad faith. Sepang’s opening laps were everything great about those two. They raced hard, but they always raced fair, they always shook hands and hugged after every weekend, there was very little in terms of mind games and bitchiness, and even in defeat, Pecco said that it was Jorge’s moment. Class, and proof you don’t need WWE narratives to sell headlines.
But as for the on-track season of Pecco… Man. Look at those numbers again. Go on, I’ll be waiting here for when you get back. Statistically, by any measure, it’s one of the greatest MotoGP seasons ever. 6 Pole Positions, 11 Wins, 7 in Sprint Form, 16 Podiums… it’s insanity. Five times, he took all 37 points available in a weekend. There were 3 Grand Slam wins, and 2 Grand Slam weekends. When Pecco was at his very best, he was completely unstoppable. Lorenzo-esque in his front-running. Set up the metronome and off he goes. As good a front-runner as there’s been in modern MotoGP history. These are all the 11-win or more seasons in MotoGP history:
14 – David Alonso (2024)
13 – Marc Marquez (2014)
12 – Mick Doohan (1997), Marc Marquez (2019)
11 – Valentino Rossi (2001, 2002, 2005), Giacomo Agostini (1972), Francesco Bagnaia (2024)
That’s it. There are only eight EVER in the 75 years of Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing. The other names are probably the four greatest riders in MotoGP history. This is truly historic stuff. But you know where this is going… he’s the only 10-win season holder to ever LOSE the Championship. Bagnaia went to the rim like Andre Iguodala and Jorge Martin blocked the shot like LeBron James.
Now, in Pecco’s defence, the Sprint has entirely changed the Championship fight’s dynamic. There’s more than one way to skin the cat. I’ve been mentioning Sprint Rankings across the series, and this was the biggest swing in points between Bagania and Martin. In the Grand Prix only, Bagnaia outscored Martin by 33 points, more than a race in hand. But the Sprints? Bagnaia was beaten by 43, and that was the difference maker.
It’s a fundamental weakness in Bagnaia and his weekend preparation. So often, he’s treated the Sprint as a demo run, testing setups with track time and then maximising his potential for the Grand Prix. That clearly worked, but it leaves you vulnerable if you give up too much to a consistent rider. And well, Jorge Martin has won 16 of them in the two seasons they’ve been a part of the sport. It was always a weakness that could have been exploited by the right rider, and Martin is the perfect kryptonite.
But in any case, a season where Bagnaia had 8 DNFs across the 40 races was always going to be a problem. If a rider comes along who’s consistent enough, you will be beaten. As mentioned during my Solidarity GP reflection. A few weren’t on him. His engine detonated at the Le Mans Sprint. The clash with Marc Marquez in Portimao was still firmly in the bracket of racing incident. Same for the one with his brother in Aragon, even if it was questionable for Bagnaia to go around the outside up the wall when Alex made a mistake. But if he doesn’t push at Misano 2 when he was in a comfortable third and takes the 16 points, he’s World Champion. If he doesn’t crash from second and wait for his chance in the Sepang Sprint, it’s a 10-point game with Bagnaia holding the tiebreaker at the final race, forcing Martin to have to go for second. If he doesn’t lose concentration at Catalunya 1’s Sprint on the final lap, he wins the title.
Sadly, it’s the underlying tone of all three of his World Championship campaigns in his career. In 2022, he should have never been 91 points behind Fabio Quartararo in the first place, even before Yamaha’s form imploded in front of our eyes. He won a 20-race, Sprintless World Title with just 265 points. Ignoring the COVID-affected 2020 season, it was the lowest tally since 2006 and Nicky Hayden’s crown. In 2023, he became the first World Champion with 5 DNFs to his name in Grand Prix, something a better rider would have punished, with Martin still too raw in his first title fight and Bez nursing an injury down the stretch. It’s why more critical pundits like me have pondered if it’s damaged his legacy somewhat.
Because on paper, Bagnaia as a Double World Champion and 29 top-flight victories, is Ducati’s most successful rider, ever. He has more premier class wins than John Surtees, Kevin Schwantz, Kenny Roberts and Wayne Rainey. Nearly twice as many as Andrea Dovizioso. Only two off Dani Pedrosa. It’s a three-year run that puts almost anyone to shame in GP history and yet… it still doesn’t feel as great as it should.
Welcome to Bagnaia’s Paradox. Do you know what might shut me up though? Beating Marc Marquez straight up next year. Good luck.
Enea Bastianini – 7.5/10 / Francesco Bagnaia – 9.5/10
Junior Class Round-Up
In Moto2, I’m delighted Ai Ogura was able to climb the mountain top to glory again. He should have won the title in 2022 before he rode too hard looking for the Home Run when a Base Hit was enough for the crown. After his wrist injury completely derailed his 2023, he was back to his best in 2024. And in a year of erratic results by so many of the big hitters in the class, Ogura’s calmness under pressure, strong comebacks, and consistent results got the job done.
It’s hard not to tell the story of that season without looking at Sergio Garcia as well. He started the season like his house was on fire. The first 10 races of the season he didn’t finish out of the Top 7, with a pair of wins in Austin and Le Mans. Then the combination of a shoulder injury and a horror run in the back half (Just 31 points in the final 10 races, including 3 DNFs), completely derailed his season. I still remember Misano where the cameraman insisted they zoom in him when he was in tears, in a combination of pain from the injury and his 12th place. It was genuinely grim to watch. I sincerely hope Garcia takes the off-season as a reset and comes back swinging. He’s been excellent in Moto2 from Day 1 and I think he needs an arm around him.
Genuinely great to see Aron Canet finish as runner-up. He’s been a bit of a cult figure in the class over the last half decade, but I’m really happy he’s started converting those second places into wins. Four of them this year, more than anyone in the class. Could be a strong favourite for 2025. Add in Manuel Gonzalez having a really strong season in third, Alonso Lopez, Celestino Vietti and Jake Dixon still in the mix, and one of the strongest graduating Moto3 classes ever (David Alonso, Dani Holgado, Colin Veijer and Ivan Ortola), and the battle between Kalex and Boscoscuro, and I think you’ve got potential for a sensational Moto2 2025 season. Keep an eye on that.
And it’d be impossible to talk about the Juniors without talking about Moto3, and specifically David Alonso. The 18-year-old Colombian has been utterly incredible this season. The first rider in World Championship history to win 14 races in a single season. It’s the combination of every Moto3 great we’ve ever seen. The front-running of Miguel Oliveira, the raw speed of Danny Kent, the racecraft and tactical nouse that Maverick Vinales and Joan Mir had. He was utterly sublime.
I still think this is one of the strongest Moto3 classes ever. Beyond the four promotees, there’s David Munoz who took a step forward, Adrian Fernandez looks like he’s finally getting it together, Angel Piqueras is savagely quick for 17, Luca Linetta showed promise, as did Taiyo Furusato and Ryusei Yamanaka… and David Alonso crushed them into a pile of salt. A 165 point margin of victory. The margin alone would have put him 6th in the standings. He could have taken the rest of the year off after Misano 2 and still won the title. It’s one of the greatest junior seasons ever. It’s one of the greatest biking seasons ever. And you had to see it to believe it. David Alonso is very, very special.
Well, 2024 is over. And the sport is in a… weird place. This was by all accounts, a pretty good MotoGP season. For the third year in a row, it went all the way down to the final race and constantly swung back and forth between its two main protagonists. We had four or five brilliant races and headline moments. The triple block of COTA, Jerez and Le Mans was incredible racing, with Marquez in direct battles for the win for the first time, Maverick Vinales shocking the world in Austin and Jorge Martin taking early control of the Championship. There’s some genuine excitement in the air with Liberty Media likely to take ownership of the brand and having seen the success of F1’s recent growth, there’s a lot of hope a fresh media perspective on MotoGP can have a similar effect.
But it’s hard not to ignore the elephants in the room. Four races ended up being cancelled this year, and it’s not exactly promising for 2025 that we’re all adamant Argentina’s getting the same treatment again and Baloton Park still looks like it needs a lot of work with runoffs before it gets homologated.
Half the races this season were processions where passing was virtually impossible besides crazy divebomb attempts. A potential bandaid in a grippier, more responsive front tyre by Michelin wasn’t tested enough in time to implement for 2025, so we’re essentially stuck with virtually identical regulations for next year, with the next big reset to 850cc prototypes and restricted aero still two years away.
Competitively speaking, it’s hard to look at 2025 as anything other than a one-team Championship. Aprilia was nowhere in the second half of the season, which is worrying if you’re the World Champion. KTM has the talent in depth, but also likely doesn’t have the bike either. And don’t get me started on Japan.
There are signs the GP25 is only a minor refinement of the 24, so there’s a chance the Ducatis won’t be so spread out next season, but with only Diggia also on Factory gear, is he on the same level as Bagnaia and Marquez? Nope, and Alex, Frankie Morbidelli and Fermin Aldeguer likely won’t be either. The idea of a Bagnaia v Marquez fight, the two best riders of the last decade going head-to-head is a fun concept, but it feels like the title fights of the “alien era” and I don’t think that’s as fun as some think it is.
MotoGP feels like it’s at a crossroads. There are a lot of exciting things in the not-too-distant future that the sport could benefit from, but that’s at least another year or so away, the on-track product is frustrating and messy right now, and I’m not sure if fans have the patience to stomach waiting until 2027 to see what the latest regulations bring. I’d like to be excited about the product again week-to-week. Hopefully, that feeling will come back again soon.
I’ve been Dre Harrison, and thank you so much for reading my coverage of MotoGP this season. See you back next week for a fantasy look at Marc Marquez’s 2024, one more time…
