After an entire season of struggle, the Barcelona Solidarity Grand Prix 2024 has put the finishing touch. With Jorge Martín who had to manage and Francesco Bagnaia who had no choice but to go all out, in the end the title has fallen to the Spaniard. And if he has fallen on Jorge’s side it has not only been because of the speed and management capacity that he has shown, making fewer mistakes than Pecco, but also because of the fair play of a Bagnaia who did not want to enter into the dark arts, and He dedicated himself to going as fast as possible.
And so much so that Pecco Bagnaia has gone fast in the 2024 Barcelona Solidarity Grand Prix, because he has taken pole, Sprint Race and victory in the GP, and the latter two with tremendous solvency. Unlike what happened in the month of May, where Bagnaia made one of those mistakes that ultimately cost him the title, this weekend the Italian has been fast, firm, without errors and showing not only that this year he was going to fight for the title, but he is already prepared to do so in 2025.
On the other side of the scale in the fight for the title we had the contender, the rider who was looking to achieve something that has happened very rarely in the modern era of motorcycling, with Valentino Rossi in 2001 as the latest example, but that had not happened in the MotoGP era: a rider in a satellite team achieving the title of MotoGP World Champion.
This weekend it seemed that it was only Jorge Martín who could lose the title and managing that pressure is not easy. However, he has been solid, but also fast. However, it has been a “discreet” weekend for Martín, as he has been third in both races and with the feeling, especially in the Sprint Race, that he could have fought to win. In Sunday’s race that feeling did not remain and, however, Martín did much more than he needed, since a ninth place would have been enough.
MARC DOES NOT CUT 🔥🔥
Overtaking of @marcmarquez93 to @88jorgemartin
Will Pecco go into chase mode?#SolidarityGP #MotoGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/WyGQb30v8N
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) November 17, 2024
Thus, in this Barcelona Solidarity Grand Prix 2024, in which the Valencian people have been so present, we have seen how more records were also achieved in an incredible season in that sense. And although on this occasion and due to the time of year in which the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was run it was not possible to beat lap times, at the end of Sunday Martín achieved the absolute record for points in a season with 508, which was 41 more than the figure for 2023, the first year with Sprint races. And not only that, Bagnaia has managed to win 12 Grand Prix in a single season, the highest number for a driver who does not win the title.
The 2024 Barcelona Solidarity Grand Prix was more than the Martín-Bagnaia duel
But although we have reduced MotoGP 2024 and the 2024 Barcelona Solidarity Grand Prix to its two main protagonists, in reality there have been many more. One of them has been Marc Márquez, who says goodbye to the year with a second place on Sunday and beating another of them in the general classification, Enea Bastianini, who was in second place on Saturday. Thus the Cervera rider achieved third final position ahead of Bastianini, who is leaving Ducati leaving the feeling that he lacked not so much speed but consistency.
That feeling is somewhat the same as that left by Álex Márquez, who finished fourth on Sunday after a nice fight with Aleix Espargaró, and who has shown to be capable of going very fast with the GP23 (not as fast as his brother) but who has suffered a lack of regularity. And speaking of Aleix, a good weekend to put an end to his career as a permanent driver, despite the fact that he will continue with Honda as a test driver and, who knows, if we will see him doing a GP in the coming years.
The detail of the entire Aprilia team with @AleixEspargaro on the day of his farewell ❤️#SolidarityGP #MotoGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/8hce0zlLYU
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) November 17, 2024
Brad Binder achieved sixth position thanks to which he surpassed Pedro Acosta in the general standings to be the best KTM by two points. After the South African, the aforementioned Enea Bastinini finished with Franco Morbidelli, perhaps the Ducati rider who has shone the least this year, in eighth position ahead of Marco Bezecchi and with Pedro Acosta closing the top 10.
A top 10 from which Japanese motorcycles have once again been left out, although the feeling is that both Yamaha, especially with Quartararo, and Honda with Johann Zarco above all, are getting closer. We will see if the internal changes of both brands make them soon return to fight for the top positions and try to put a stop to the hegemony of Ducati which, although it has won the title, will not have the 1 on its fairings next MotoGP season which, By the way, preseason testing starts tomorrow.
