Dre’s Race Review: MotoGP’s 2024 Solidarity Grand Prix

“#RacingForValencia”

Before I get started, whatever you thought of this weekend, this was for the people of Valencia. Dorna, the FIM, the IRTA, Michelin and the suppliers, the riders, and everyone else involved deserve serious praise for being able to organise an entire Grand Prix weekend in just 10 days that enabled us to have a sporting finale to the 2024 season, it’s what this year deserved after everything the sport has had to deal with this year. Aspar’s fundraiser has since reached 200,000 Euros, and if you haven’t already please donate to either their page or the Spanish Red Cross that MotoGP have been collaborating with. 

I’ll donate 10 cents for every point Jorge Martin scored this season, so 50 Euros will be heading their way next week. A huge thanks from everyone at Motorsport101 if you’ve been able to as well. 

I won’t waste too much time on the racing itself, because there wasn’t much. Catalunya in November was never going to be the most ideal of circumstances – A low-grip slippery track at the best of times, combined with chilly temperatures is a frightening combination. This was a weekend where across the board, times were far slower than the original running of this race in May, a combination of conditions and riders who were understandably risk-averse out of potentially tucking the front.

Pecco Bagnaia had pretty much a perfect weekend. Pole, won both races while leading virtually every single lap on the board, and he never really looked like losing either of them. The highlight of the Sprint was a surprise divebomb at Turn 5 on the final lap by Enea Bastianini, a man who always said he was in it for himself, suddenly taking a huge risk to indirectly help Pecco win the title. Funny that.

Sunday was a small surprise that Marc Marquez, who had struggled all weekend, was suddenly the second fastest man on track and was the only person giving Pecco something to think about, but the title fight we all wanted never really materialised. Martin still had a 19-point lead going into the final race, meaning just 9th place was going to be enough for the Spaniard, and once he was a comfortable third, with best friend Aleix Espargaro behind him and dealing with Alex Marquez, it was in the bag. And for all the bozo jokes, Martin has done an exceptional job of mitigating the errors down the stretch, something he didn’t do in 2023. 

Pecco won the battle, Martin won the war.

The Aftermath

I’ll talk about their respective seasons in more detail in the coming weeks, but what a contrast compared to last season. Jorge Martin promised and vowed he’d be back here after last year’s disappointment, and at times I struggled to believe him. But looking at the key numbers between both he and Pecco Bagnaia, it’s clear where the title was won. Martin was 43 points better than Bagnaia over the Sprint discipline this season, and Martin made much more of his bad days than Bagnaia did. We all mocked him after the German GP disaster on the penultimate lap. He didn’t crash in a GP again that season, and only once in the Sprint, a result he’d avenge in the GP a day later. Across the season, Martin more than doubled his podium count compared to 2023, from seven to an incredible sixteen. Add seven more Sprint wins and it ultimately didn’t matter that he only crossed the line first on Sunday three times, the same as Marc Marquez did, 120 points down the road. As I’ve always said courtesy of old co-host Adam Johnson, you win the title on your bad days, and the damage mitigation got him over the line.

The Pecco Bagnaia post-mortem will be brutal. Let’s not forget, the man won 11 Grand Prix this season, only the sixth rider ever in double digits, but now the first to do so and NOT win the title at the end of it all. The raw speed of Pecco has always been hard to match. The Solidarity weekend was the 5th time this season he’d doubled up. At his best, he’s Lorenzo-esque in his metronomic consistency. But the bad days were just too often and too costly against a rider who punished his shortcomings. 

They weren’t all his fault. The Jerez sprint and the Binder/Bez Sandwich. The technical error at Le Mans. You could argue his Marquez clash at Portimao was a racing incident, but that still only covers half his eight DNFs on the year where his decision-making was questionable. The pushing in Misano 2, and the Alex Marquez crash at Aragon that was so unnecessary, it added up, and ultimately, it was too much to overcome. 

It won’t be any easier for Pecco given Marc Marquez will be on the other side of the garage in just two days, a man who at times was genuinely able to bridge the gap between the GP23 and the incredible GP24 machine that put the factory into the stratosphere. The defining of Pecco’s legacy remains to be seen. 

Both protagonists would have been worthy World Champions. On this occasion though, Jorge Martin said he’d be back, and like the Terminator he named himself after… he was. 

The Lightning Round

A couple more MotoGP firsts – Jorge Martin becomes the first rider of the MotoGP era to win the World Championship as an Independent, an incredible achievement for the Pramac team who leaves Ducati having won a teams title and a riders title in the last two years. Pretty remarkable given the history of the sport and not being all that long ago when customers weren’t even in the frame. 

It also marks the first time Red Bull Rookies Cup graduates now hold all three World Titles. (Martin, Ogura and Alonso)

Also, credit to Martin Raines for the incredible stat – Jorge’s the first World Champion of the MotoGP era to beat four World Champions on the same grid (Marquez, Quartararo, Bagnaia and Mir). 

This did feel like the end of an era for so many. Honda for instance, with Repsol’s final race with the team going out like another whimper as well as the retirement of Taka Nakagami and likely Stefan Bradl too. Pramac’s final race with Ducati, and the final race for Lin Jarvis at Yamaha, arguably the greatest team boss of all time, with eight World Championships. 

A special mention to Aleix Espargaro. Not the most popular of riders, but I’ve always had deep admiration for him. He had to scratch and claw in the Open Class era of the sport to get a foothold, got thrown out of Suzuki after aiding in their development as a returning factory, and played a key role in the rise of Aprilia as someone who was prepared to get his hands dirty. A team that loved him back as much as he did them. A mostly excellent ambassador for the series too, always prepared to speak out against some of the issues within the sport such as safety, and while he’s not always been perfect, his heart has always been in my opinion, in the right place. Happy trails, Il Captiano. 

One last spicy quote for the road? Enea Bastianini criticised him for “riding for Jorge”. His response: “I was waiting for him to fight with me at the end, but he was ten seconds behind, on a factory Ducati!” – Oof.

Only fitting that Aron Canet, Valencian born and bred, Grand Slammed the Moto2 race en route to his fourth victory of the year. An excellent season for the man with more tattoos than JR Smith, a comfortable Championship runner-up.

David Alonso also made yet more history, becoming the first person to win 14 races in ANY Grand Prix season, regardless of class or era. His seven win-streak to close out the year was the first in the lightweight class since Fausto Gresini in 1987. A truly incredible season by quite possibly the greatest Moto3 rider of all time. I hope Aspar gets him a competitive package for Moto2 in 2025 because this kid is a rocket. 

Dre’s Race Rating: Who f***ing cares/10 – We’re lucky we even got a finale, and it honestly doesn’t feel appropriate to score this one. I’m just glad we got closure on what ended up being a fascinating season and title battle. It was a boring race that once again played to the worst traits of the current MotoGP machinery, but that’s tomorrow’s problem. Today, belonged to Jorge Martin. Congratulations on the first Independent MotoGP World Champion. 

Before I go, just letting you know, I’ve got a couple more pieces to write up shortly, such as my two-part season review and a fantasy piece on Marc Marquez’s 2024 season and what it could have been, but as ever, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who’s been reading along on my MotoGP Season Reviews across the year. It’s always a blast knowing you’re there waiting for them, even more so in a world where there are 100 places you can get your news. Thank you, and see you on the next one. <3 – Dre x