Francesco Bagnaia made the greatest comeback in MotoGP history and won the Valencia Grand Prix. Fabio Quartararo was 23 points behind Bagnaia going into the final race and needed only a win to overtake him, but the reigning champion could only manage fourth place, with Alex Rins winning, who was the last one remaining from Suzuki representatives. Alex won his fifth MotoGP race of his career.
Despite an early crash, Bagnaia finished ninth, good enough for the championship. Bagnaia gave Ducati their first title since 2007, when Casey Stoner did the same, ending 15 years of dominance by the Japanese manufacturers.
Bagnaia staged a brilliant comeback, clearing 91 points during the season and becoming the first Italian to win a race on an Italian bike after a 50-year wait.
““It was the hardest race of my life. my goal was to finish in the top five, but I only got involved from the fourth lap because the front of my bike was out of control. the most important thing is still the win, we are world champions, it’s a great day!”
Francesco said.
Bagnaia, who became the first Italian MotoGP champion since Valentino Rossi, celebrated his victory by waving the Italian flag.
It should be noted that Bagnaia preferred to back off after the crash. He knew that even if Quartararo won, it would be enough to finish in the top fourteen to win the title. so he preferred not to take the risk and win quietly.
Honda’s Marc Marquez was second and looked poised for a podium finish, but a heavy crash on lap eight dropped him to 18th.