Jorge Martín Almoguera, 26 years old, a native of San Sebastián de los Reyes, is already immortal. In Montmeló he inscribed his name on the tower of champions, that precious trophy that distinguishes the king of MotoGP, after achieving a good third place in the last race of the course, moved from Cheste to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, in which he imposed Pecco Bagnaia. The Italian was only 10 points away from the three-time championship, despite his 11 victories. The winningest runner-up in history.
Martinatorleader for almost the entire season, is the fifth Spaniard to be crowned in the highest category of motorcycling, after Àlex Crivillé (1999), Jorge Lorenzo (2010, 2012, 2015), Marc Márquez (2013-14, 2016-19 ) and Joan Mir (2020). And the first Madrid champion of the queen class.
The exit
Bagnaia controlled the race from pole, Martín got behind him jumping from 4th to 2nd, but Márquez soon sent Jorge to third place
The moment of truth arrived in Montmeló, after 8 months of racing, 20 grand prix and 18 circuits, with the title to be decided. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Cheste’s substitute for the MotoGP ‘season finale’, brought together 62,123 spectators for the last 24-lap duel between Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martín.
At the start, Pecco in the poleJorge in the second row, fourth painting, just behind the Italian. When braking at Turn 1, Bagnaia arrived first, but with Martín hooked to his wheel, second, after overtaking Márquez and Espargaró. Marc was placed third and Bastianini was fourth.
The first move was made by Marc Márquez, with nothing to lose and nothing to owe to Martín. He didn’t think twice to overtake the Spaniard in the second lap and take second place from him.
The 93rd went hunting for Bagnaia in search of a farewell to Gresini with victory. The other tough fight was between Aleix Espargaró and Bastianini for fourth place, which the man from Granollers won on lap 5 after two attacks.
Aleix’s work was essential as a retaining wall, the first defensive line of his friend Martín. The Aprilia driver stopped Bastianini, who could attack and delay the Spaniard, as he did in Saturday’s Sprint, sending him to third place.
Bastianini’s shadow ceased to be a threat to Martín. The Italian passed, in addition to Aleix, the other two Spanish drivers, Àlex Márquez and Pedro Acosta, and Morbidelli.
Controlled situation
From third position, protected behind him by Aleix Espargaró, Martín only had to reduce laps
Upon reaching the halfway point of the race (v. 12/24), the situation was comfortable for Martín, riding in third position, 1.3-1.5s behind Pecco. He had at his back protecting him his faithful friend Aleix Espargaró acting as squire, and in front of him was Marc Márquez chasing and stalking Bagnaia, who could not be calm with the man from Cervera on his neck.
Nothing happened in the second part of the race. Bagnaia remained firm at the front, without slowing down, and Márquez lost contact to attack and seek victory, while Martín had no threat behind, with Aleix Espargaró protecting his back just in case. Behind him he had Alex Márquez and Enea Bastianini, who were too far away from the Spaniard.
Nothing bothered Jorge, who was able to finish the last laps without stress, cross the finish line in third place and celebrate his MotoGP title with his team and his family.
He celebrated the title with a special performance at turn 12 of the Circuit, under the music of Terminatorwhich inspired his nickname Martinator. Jorge shot an ice cube with the 89 and out came a golden helmet with the inscription World Champion. His mother, Susana Almoguera, his father, Ángel Martín, his brother Javier, and his girlfriend, the influencer María Monfort, were waiting for him crying with emotion.
The last of Aleix
Espargaró said goodbye to Aprilia and as a full-time driver; He achieved a 4th place before becoming a Honda tester.
The last race of the 2024 World Championship was also Aleix Espargaró’s last with the Aprilia and as a full-time rider, after 21 seasons in the championship. The driver from Granollers achieved a fourth position, which puts the culmination of a World Cup race in which he achieved three victories, all three with the Noale brand (two in 2023 and one in 2022).
Espargaró, 35, will debut on Tuesday as a Honda HRC tester, a team with which he has signed for two seasons. He is accompanied by his chief mechanic Antonio Jiménez.
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