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2024 MotoGP World Championship
76th running of the MotoGP World Championship From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 2024 FIM MotoGP World Championship was the premier class of the 76th Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) Road Racing World Championship season, the highest level of competition in motorcycle road racing.
Jorge Martín (Pictured in 2023) was crowned the 2024 Riders' World Champion.
Marc Márquez (Pictured riding for Honda in 2023) finished third in the Riders' standings in his first year on Ducati machinery.
Spanish rider Jorge Martín with Prima Pramac Racing was crowned Riders' World Champion, the first independent team rider to do so in the MotoGP era and first since Valentino Rossi with Nastro Azzurro Honda in 2001.[1] With 17 sprint and 19 Grand Prix victories from 20 racing weekends, Ducati dominated the season to take their sixth Constructors' World Championship, with the factory team taking the Teams' World Championship. This season also saw Japanese manufacturers struggling for the entire season as they failed to score a single race win for the first time since 1970.
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Season summary
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The season opener returned to its traditional home in Qatar, seeing Jorge Martín take the early championship lead with a sprint race win from pole position, before being eclipsed by defending champion Francesco Bagnaia taking the main race victory.[2] In Portugal, Martín re-took the championship lead with a sprint podium and race win.[3] Pedro Acosta became the youngest rider to achieve a podium in the MotoGP era (and third-youngest in the history of Grand Prix motorcycle racing) with a third place at 19 years 304 days.[4] In Austin, Maverick Viñales and Aprilia completed a perfect weekend, taking pole position with a new lap record, the sprint and race victories, and fastest lap.[5] With this win, Viñales became the first rider in the MotoGP era (and fifth overall in Grand Prix motorcycle racing history) to secure victories with three different manufacturers (Suzuki, Yamaha, and Aprilia).[6][7]
In Jerez, Jorge Martín took his second sprint victory of the season, in a race session notable for 15 separate incidents of riders crashing due to weather conditions creating unpredictable damp patches on an otherwise dry race course.[8] Francesco Bagnaia took the main
race win, ahead of Marc Márquez and Marco Bezzecchi.[9] In Le Mans, Martín achieved a perfect weekend to extend his championship lead, winning both the sprint and main races from pole position. Marquéz continued his streak of second place podium finishes in both races and moved into third in the championship. Bagnaia struggled in the sprint before retiring on the third lap, but managed to take the final podium position in the main race.[10] In Montmeló for the first of two rounds, Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaró announced his plans to retire at the conclusion of the 2024 season at a special Friday press conference,[11] before achieving pole position and the sprint race victory on Saturday.[12][13] Bagnaia took the main race win, with Martín and Márquez completing the podium.[14] At Mugello, Martín started from pole, but Bagnaia took the sprint and grand prix victories (despite a three-place grid penalty) to cut the championship deficit to 18 points.[15] In Assen, Bagnaia completed a perfect weekend, taking pole position and both race wins, with Martín finishing runner-up in all sessions.[16] Martín initially dominated the weekend in Sachensring, getting pole position and winning the sprint before crashing from the lead on the penultimate lap of the main race, ultimately gifting the win to Bagnaia.[17] With this victory, Bagnaia re-took the championship lead for the first time since Portugal to enter the summer break with a 10 point advantage over Martín.
Returning to action at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, the 75th anniversary of the world championship was celebrated with special retro-inspired liveries for all teams in the Grand Prix race.[18][19] Ducati rider Enea Bastianini took the win in both the sprint and Grand Prix races. Jorge Martín finished both races in second position, while Francesco Bagnaia crashed out of the sprint and finished third in the main race, allowing Martín to re-take the championship lead.[20] Bagnaia took both race wins ahead of Martín in Spielberg to reclaim the lead.[21] At Aragon, Marc Márquez completed a perfect weekend with pole position, sprint win, race win and fastest lap to mark his first victory with Ducati and his first wins in 1,043 days since 2021, when he won the second Misano round.[22] Martín took second place in both racing sessions to again leapfrog Bagnaia for the championship lead. Márquez took a consecutive Grand Prix victory in the first of two Misano rounds, while Martín topped the sprint podium. The cancelled Kazakhstan Grand Prix was replaced by a second Misano round in consecutive weeks, which saw Bagnaia win the sprint but crash out of the main Grand Prix won by teammate Bastianini. Martín finished on the second step of both sessions to extend his championship lead to 24 points to end the European leg of the season. Ducati clinched their fifth consecutive Constructors' Championship (and sixth overall) with six rounds remaining.[23]
The Pacific leg of the calendar began in Indonesia, which saw the first Grand Prix victory for Jorge Martín since France in May, and a sprint win for Francesco Bagnaia.[24] At Motegi, Bagnaia took the top step of the podium in both racing sessions to cut Martín's championship lead to 10 points with four rounds remaining.[25] Martín took pole position and the sprint victory at Philip Island, but finished second behind Marc Marquéz in the Grand Prix.[26] In Thailand, Enea Bastianini won the sprint ahead of Martín and Bagnaia, while Bagnaia won the main race ahead of Martín and Pedro Acosta.[27] At the penultimate round in Sepang, Bagnaia started from pole but crashed out of the sprint while chasing Martín, who had taken the lead into the first corner.[28] The two title contenders swapped the lead multiple times in the opening laps of the main race, before Bagnaia built a gap to take the win ahead of Martín. This set up a final race show-down with a 24 point advantage to Martín for the final Grand Prix weekend.[29]
Flooding in the Valencian region caused the final round, normally held in Cheste in Valencia, to be replaced by a second round held in Montmeló in Catalonia at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.[30] Francesco Bagnaia completed a perfect weekend in Barcelona, winning both the sprint and Grand Prix from pole position, but two third places for Jorge Martín were sufficient to crown Martín as the 2024 champion, with 508 points to Bagnaia's 498.[31] Ducati completed the season with 722 points out of a possible maximum of 740 (97.6%) to win the constructor's championship.
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Teams and riders
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All teams used series-specified Michelin tyres.[65]
Team changes
- RNF Racing did not enter the 2024 season after being found breaching the participation agreement.[62] Trackhouse Racing was later announced as the replacement for RNF, taking over as Aprilia's independent team and retaining riders Miguel Oliveira and Raúl Fernández from RNF.[64]
Rider changes
- Álex Rins moved to Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team from LCR Honda,[57] replacing Franco Morbidelli who moved to Prima Pramac Racing,[66] replacing Johann Zarco.[39]
- Johann Zarco moved to LCR Honda from Prima Pramac Racing, replacing Álex Rins.[47] Zarco previously raced with the team as a replacement rider in 2019.
- Marc Márquez moved to Gresini Racing from Repsol Honda Team,[42] replacing Fabio Di Giannantonio who moved to VR46 Racing Team,[43] replacing Luca Marini.[67] Márquez left Repsol Honda after 11 seasons, winning six Riders' Championships during his stint with the team,[68] and teamed up again with his brother Álex, who was his teammate in Repsol Honda in 2020.
- Pedro Acosta entered the MotoGP class with the Red Bull GasGas Tech3 team, replacing Pol Espargaró, who left the premier class after 10 seasons.[52]
- Luca Marini moved to Repsol Honda Team from VR46 Racing Team, replacing Marc Márquez.[49]
Mid-season changes
- Álex Rins missed the German round after an injury sustained at the previous Dutch round and was replaced by Remy Gardner.[69] Rins also missed the British round for the same reason, but he was not replaced.
- Yamaha planned to have Cal Crutchlow wildcarding at the Italian, British, and San Marino Grands Prix. Crutchlow had surgery on his right hand and withdrew from Italy and was replaced by Remy Gardner for Britain as Crutchlow was still recovering from the surgery but no wildcard entry was provided for San Marino.
- Miguel Oliveira missed the Japanese, Australian, Thailand, and Malaysian rounds after a wrist injury sustained at the Indonesian round. He was replaced for all races by Lorenzo Savadori.[35]
- Fabio Di Giannantonio missed the final two races of the season to undergo surgery on his left shoulder.[70] He was replaced by Andrea Iannone for the Malaysian round[44] and Michele Pirro for the Solidarity round.[45]
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Rule changes
A new concession system for manufacturers has been introduced, classifying them based on their recent performance across two evaluation periods. The system encompasses multiple factors, such as test days, riders, wildcard entries, engines, aerodynamic updates, and allocated testing tyres.[71]
During the warm-up lap of a sprint or race, the white flag may be displayed by race direction, indicating that bike changes are permitted due to rain. Riders can enter the pit lane to change tyres or bikes and start the race from the pit lane without incurring additional penalties.[71]
Calendar
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The following Grands Prix took place in 2024:[72]
Grand Prix locations
.svg)
Location of non-European Grands Prix in 2024.
(
: scheduled Grand Prix 
: cancelled Grand Prix)
(
: scheduled Grand Prix 
: cancelled Grand Prix)
Location of European Grands Prix in 2024.
(: scheduled Grand Prix : cancelled Grand Prix)
(
: scheduled Grand Prix : cancelled Grand Prix)Calendar changes
- The Qatar Grand Prix returned as the season opener after being the penultimate round in 2023.[79]
- The Kazakhstan Grand Prix is set to make its debut this season after its cancellation in 2023 due to homologation works at the circuit along with global operational challenges.[80] With the introduction of this Grand Prix, the German Grand Prix was returned to its traditional calendar slot in early July, after the Dutch TT and before the season's summer break.
- The Aragon Grand Prix returned this season after not being held in 2023.[81]
- The Argentine Grand Prix was cancelled on 31 January, due to "current circumstances" in the country's on-going economic crisis.[74][82] The event was not replaced.
- The Kazakhstan Grand Prix was "postponed until later in the season" on 3 May, due to the on-going Central Asian flooding.[75] It was announced on 29 May that it will be held on 22 September,[76] the date which the Indian Grand Prix is scheduled to be held. It was also announced on the same day the Grand Prix of India will not be held in 2024 and will be postponed to March 2025.[77] On 15 July, it was announced that the Kazakhstan Grand Prix would not take place, and its date would be replaced by a second round at Misano.[78]
- The Valencian Grand Prix which was initially scheduled to be held as the season finale on 17 November was cancelled due to the October 2024 Spanish floods.[83] On 5 November, it was announced that a second Grand Prix at Barcelona would host the season finale, with the Grand Prix name being the Solidarity Grand Prix.[30][84]
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Results and standings
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Grands Prix
Riders' standings
- Scoring system
Points were awarded to the top fifteen finishers of the main race and to the top nine of the sprint. A rider had to finish the race to earn points.
Constructors' standings
Each constructor was awarded the same number of points as their best placed rider in each race.
Teams' standings
The teams' standings were based on results obtained by regular and substitute riders; wild-card entries were ineligible.
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Notes
- Wildcard Remy Gardner used the team name Yamaha Factory Racing Team during round 16.
References
External links
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