Jorge Martin’s Notes on Becoming a Champion
Spanish pilot Jorge Martin (Ducati Desmosedici GP24) could become the new MotoGP world champion this weekend. Thanks to DANA Valencia, the championship will be decided at the Montmelo Circuit of the Barcelona Solidarity Grand Prix.
The Madrid native has the opportunity of a lifetime: to become champion by returning last year’s defeat to his closest enemy and winning a record that has stood for 23 years. Not since 2001, when Valentino Rossi won his first world championship in the top category on a Nastro Azzurro Honda NSR500, has a satellite team won.
Martinitor, king of sprint racing
Your dream may come true as early as Saturday. Martin, the driver with the best results in the sprint races – seven wins, six seconds and two third places – will become champion if he wins his eighth sprint. He needs to gain more than two points over Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia (Ducati Desmosedici GP24), as they are currently separated by 24 points in the general classification.
A possible win on Saturday would save him from suffering on Sunday, as the Italian driver has won the most major prizes. Banyaya would even be the leader of the championship if sprint racing did not exist. Saturday
If they had not counted towards the championship, Bagnaia would have entered the final round with 345 points, ahead of Martin who would have had 321 points. That is the same difference that Martin now maintains over the Italian in the real standings. The Italian won 10 top prizes and failed to win the World Championship, which has never happened.
So the great unknown will be the intuitive understanding of the World Cup leader’s strategy: take your chances on both Saturday and Sunday, or follow a more conservative plan.
Had there been a tie between the two at the end of Sunday’s race, Banaya would have won the title for most wins in Sunday’s long races.
A record that has stood for 23 years
“Martineitor” wants to follow in the footsteps of such a legend as Valentino Rossi. To the success of his first World Championship victory he can add a milestone that has not been repeated since the existence of the MotoGP category (since 2002 they replaced the 500cc category).
The previous unofficial driver to win the premier class was Valentino Rossi 23 years ago. He achieved this in his second season in this category. riding a Honda NSR500 as part of the Nastro Azzurro team.
He did it with complete control, winning 11 of the 16 races that then made up the championship (the same ones that Bagnaia could add now). Today there are more competitions on the calendar than before, and the inclusion of sprint races determines the overall classification.
Four other pilots also achieved this.
Before Rossi, four more riders were 500cc champions from the satellite team: Kenny Roberts with Team Yamaha USA in 1978, 1979 and 1980; Marco Lucchinelli And Franco Uncini in 1981 and 1982 respectively, both on a Suzuki from the Nava Gallina team; And Eddie Lawson. The Californian was champion in 1984, 1986 and 1988 as part of the official Yamaha team, but in 1989 he moved to Honda, the Rothmans team, and won.