FRANCESCO BAGNAIA (Lenovo Ducati) is the 2023 MotoGP world champion. And after a ridiculous weekend, high on drama, concluded with him scoring a hard-fought victory that was contested up until the championship’s final corner, not one of the 93,044 fans in attendance could say he didn’t deserve it.
There were a few wobbles over the course of a madcap three days, as chief rival Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) attempted to get under his skin on Friday before the pressure was ramped up by the Spaniard’s Sprint success on Saturday.
Much as it has done in the season’s final three months, the championship pendulum swung back and forth between the two, almost by the session. Yet once again the 25-year old Italian maintained his composure, saving his best for Sunday.
After Saturday’s results, Bagnaia only needed a fifth place to clinch the crown. Yet he was every bit up for the fight, leading the feature race from the off. While Bagnaia was assured and mistake-free up front, Martin was caught up in the emotion of it all. He rushed his comeback through the field after nearly tailgating his main rival, and there was an air of inevitably as it ended in disaster on lap six as he tangled with Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda).
With the title decided in Bagnaia’s favour, Martin returned to his box in tears. And Sunday’s much hyped finale was in danger of petering out.
Yet that was only part of the story in a wild season finale. Red Bull KTM chargers Brad Binder and Jack Miller both took turns leading the race after Martin’s fall, with the Austrian factory poised to land
