Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) is the 2024 MotoGP™ World Champion! Having taken a 24-point lead into the title-deciding weekend at the Motul Solidarity GP of Barcelona, the Spaniard held his nerve to perfection to win his first premier class title by 10 points and become the first Independent Team rider to win the title in the MotoGP™ era.
Martin made his debut on the world stage in 2015 with Mapfre Mahindra, moving up after taking the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. He scored his first point in the season opener in Qatar and became a regular top 15 contender, ending his rookie year in 17th overall. The following season, the rider from Madrid took another step forward – including his first podium in the wet at Brno – but he also missed a couple of races through injury, therefore ending the season just one place further forward in 16th overall.
2017 saw Martin cement his place at the front as he moved to Del Conca Gresini Moto3, beginning the year on the podium in third at Qatar. He took nine pole positions and eight further podiums that season – but it was a long wait for one to be a maiden win. The Spaniard wrapped that up in the season finale at Valencia; his first trip to the top step setting him up perfectly for an assault on the crown the following year and seeing him take fourth overall in the standings.
2018 began perfectly as Martin won in Qatar, and it was a year that saw the Spanish star really make a name for himself on the Grand Prix scene. Seven wins were secured while he also set a new Moto3™ pole position record (11), but it was the Moto3™ World Championship crown that counted most. For the first time, Martin was a World Champion, as a move to Moto2™ with Red Bull KTM Ajo beckoned for 2019.
A difficult year for rider and machine followed in his rookie intermediate class season, and it wasn’t until the Japanese GP that we saw Martin return to the podium. That P3 was backed up by a P2 in Australia, as a good end-of-season run set up 2020 nicely for one of Grand Prix racing’s brightest prospects.
Three podiums in the first six races in 2020 included a debut Moto2™ win in Austria. But when sitting just eight points back from title leader Luca Marini, Martin then had to miss the San Marino and Emilia-Romagna GPs after testing positive for Covid-19, and two more 0s cost him dearly in his quest to become Moto2™ World Champion.
Capping off a rollercoaster rookie MotoGP™ season with a second place finish in Valencia, 2022 promised a lot – but delivered a little less at times. It was a tougher start with Martin unable to unleash his full potential, but his sophomore season ended with four podiums – none of them wins.
After that more difficult-than-expected 2022, Martin came into 2023 hunting a much more consistent campaign. The year didn’t get off to the cleanest of starts though as two Sunday DNFs came in the first three races, before a P4 on home soil in Jerez got the ball rolling. A debut Tissot Sprint win arrived in France, and that was backed up with a double podium in Italy at Mugello. And from there, Martin’s title challenge against Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) was born. Martin went on to become the Sprint King in 2023 as the #89 won seven of the last nine Saturday outings, and having won three Sunday races in the second half of the season, Martin landed in Valencia 21 points adrift of Pecco.
After winning the Sprint, Martin cut the gap – but Sunday saw the home hero suffer a DNF. Martin agonisingly missed out on the MotoGP™ title last season, but that only added fuel to the fire in his pursuit of going one better in 2024.
After six P2 finishes in that stretch, a return to winning ways on Sunday in Indonesia – following a Sprint crash – saw Martin start to become the favourite for the title. A P2 in Japan, a Sprint win and P2 in Australia and a pair of P2s in Thailand saw Martin land in Malaysia with a 17-point lead over Pecco.
In the Sprint, Martin was superb to claim a crucial 12 points as Pecco, dramatically, crashed out of P2. That meant Martin had a 29-point lead coming into Sunday’s 20-lap race in Sepang and with a P2 finish, Martin made sure he held a healthy 24-point advantage over Pecco ahead of #TheRematch decider.
In Barcelona, Martin qualified fourth and finished P3 in the Tissot Sprint to head into Sunday’s race with a simple objective – finish P9 or better. And that’s exactly what he did. Despite Bagnaia’s perfect weekend, Martin claimed a safe P3 in front of his home fans to become the 2024 World Champion – a year on from missing out on the crown in Valencia. A phenomenal job from the #89 as he became a MotoGP™ World Champion, and two-time World Champion too, before he leaves Ducati for Aprilia in 2025.
Congratulations to Jorge and Prima Pramac Racing on a stunning campaign!
#MART1NATOR: the Championship in stats
- Jorge Martin becomes the 30th different premier class World Champion and only the fifth different Spanish rider to clinch a premier class world title along with Alex Criville (one premier class title), Joan Mir (1), Jorge Lorenzo (3) and Marc Marquez (6).
- Martin is the first Independent Team rider to win the Championship in the MotoGP™ era and the first Independent rider to clinch the premier class title since Valentino Rossi in 2001.
- Martin becomes the third Ducati rider to clinch the MotoGP™ title along with Francesco Bagnaia (2022, 2023) and Casey Stoner (2007).
- Martin becomes the second rider to clinch the premier class world title having previously taken the Moto3™ title, along with Joan Mir (2020).
- Martin becomes the first former Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup winner to clinch the premier class world title.
- In the MotoGP™ era, this is the fifth time the Champion is not the rider with the most wins, after Nicky Hayden (2006), Jorge Lorenzo (2012), Marc Marquez (2013 and 2017, tied with Andrea Dovizioso) and Joan Mir (2020).
- With eight premier class wins, all with Ducati, Martin sits in fourth on the list of Ducati riders with most wins. Bagnaia leads with 29 wins.
- With 32 premier class podiums so far, Martin is the fourth Ducati rider with most podiums in the class behind Andrea Dovizioso (40) and Casey Stoner (42). Francesco Bagnaia leads with 51.
- Martin has 16 GP podiums this year, tied with Bagnaia, which is a new record for a Ducati rider. The previous most was Bagnaia’s 15 last season.
- Aged 26 years and 293 days old, Martin is the oldest rider to clinch his maiden MotoGP™ world title since the introduction of the class in 2002, Bagnaia in 2022 (25 years and 296 days old).
- Martin is the first rider to reach the milestone of 500 points in a single premier class season: 508.
“Thanks to everybody, it is a nice feeling but I am in shock I don’t know what to say, the emotions are high and I cried a lot, so maybe now I am more relaxed. I spoke a lot with the media, it has been an emotional hour after the big moment, I just want to celebrate, I just want to be with my team, my family and my friends. It has been emotional; it has been a long journey as my career has not been easy. For sure, I have had good opportunities in front of me, but I think I have built off them. I worked hard, and I have made a lot of sacrifices at home every day to try and become a better man. Last season, I had the opportunity, but I think I was not prepared to win but this year I felt it. I felt it was my year, so thanks to Pramac, to Ducati for giving me the opportunity to have an amazing bike these four years and to give me the opportunity to fight until the end with Pecco, who was amazing.”
How were you feeling ahead of the Grand Prix with a 19-point advantage and during the first few laps?
“It was difficult, the conditions were difficult, so the tyre choice was not easy. There were some hard tyres, some soft tyres and some medium tyres, so I was looking at my opponents, and I was like, ‘Wow, they are all good’. I mean, I thought it was really easy for me to finish 10th if they had a good race. I was scared, but I thought the medium was the most conservative tyre choice. It wasn’t easy, and I don’t think it was the correct one, maybe the soft was a little bit more competitive. I had trust in myself, and I had a lot of confidence in myself that even with the worst tyre, I could be inside the top nine, so I was super focused on the race.”
Talk us through the explosion of emotion when you knew you were the World Champion?
“Seven laps to go was the difficult point, I was so focused today, and I think even if it was a normal race in May, I would have finished third because Marc and Pecco were stronger. I did my best. For sure, the last seven laps were difficult, I started to remember a lot of moments throughout my career, I remember my dad helping me after work and all of the weekend, my mum cooking when I was in pocket bikes and my grandfather, who is not here and was watching me from the sky. I was remembering a lot of moments, but then I had to refocus and remain in the moment but then once I crossed the finish line, I started to cry. Already on the last lap, I felt that I was starting to cry; it was so emotional, and then I became happy and started to cry again once I remembered my family. I am so happy that almost all my family is here and all my close friends are here, so tonight will be good.”
How special will it be to put your name at the top of the Tower of Champions?
“Last season, I remember with Pecco when I was doing the filming, I was looking at the trophy, and I wasn’t prepared. I was scared, but this year, I didn’t even look at the trophy while we were filming, but I thought I would put my name in its place. Today, I enjoyed the race. I was touching my elbow and shoulder on the ground, like a training session. I am so happy that I could enjoy the moment as I remember in 2018 when I won the Moto3™ World Championship I was already thinking that I wanted another one in Moto2™, so I didn’t enjoy it. Now I can enjoy the moment, and whatever comes in the future will be a gift, I will try and be my best version and try and win with Aprilia, but right now, I will enjoy this moment.”
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