- 2022-11-07
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Donate to support families affected by the crisis in Ukraine ➔ MotoGP Valencia: Alex Rins Wins Finale, Francesco Bagnaia Claims Maiden MotoGP Title
In MotoGP final race of 2022 at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Spain, Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar) took his second victory of 2022 season, and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) won the 2022 MotoGP™ World Championship.
For Francesco Bagnaia, it is Ducati's first riders' title in 15 years since the 2007 Casey Stoner, also becoming the first Italian to do so since Valentino Rossi in 2009.
Alex Rins made a brilliant start and led the race. Pole-sitter Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati), Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo), and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) followed him. Beginning of the race, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Yamaha) competed against Francesco Bagnaia, but kept 5th leaving him.
Marc Marquez crashed out at Turn 1 on Lap 6, Jack Miller crashed out at Turn 2 on Lap 23. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) passed Fabio Quartararo and Jorge Martin, moved up to 2nd place.
Finally, Alex Rins through the chequered flag in 1st place ahead of 2nd Brad Binder. Jorge Martin was 3rd and Fabio Quartararo finished 4th.
At that point, Francesco Bagnaia was crowned World Champion, who finally finished the race in 9th.
Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM) was in fifth on his final appearance for KTM, with Joan Mir (Suzuki Ecstar) sixth on Suzuki's farewell ahead of Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Ducati) and Enea Bastianini (Gresini Ducati).
Franco Morbidelli (Monster Yamaha) came close to passing Francesco Bagnaia on the last lap, but he finished 10th.
Alex Rins said, “It's spectacular to finish like this, especially with Suzuki leaving MotoGP...we couldn't finish any better than this.. I'm so, so proud. I've learned a lot with Suzuki this year and now I start a new chapter in my life. Thank you to everybody who came to support us here. I'm very, very happy.”
Francesco Bagnaia said, “I'm very happy, also on a day that was the worst race of the year, of the calendar, I had a special taste. When I passed the finish line I just saw the pit board that said I was the world champion and from that moment everything was lighter, more nice and it was incredible. My emotion is incredible at this moment. It wasn't easy because in the fight with Fabio I lost a winglet and from that moment everything was a nightmare. Lap by lap I was trying to ride a defensive line but it was very, very hard. It took so long to finish the race but I'm very proud of my team, myself and the work that we did which was incredible. I was feeling this weight on my shoulders to give back this title to all my team, to the manufacturer, to Ducati, to Italy. It wasn't easy in that moment but then I spoke with Vale and he said 'you have to be proud to have this possibility. Not everyone can have this possibility. It's true that you can feel the pressure and feel fear, but you have to be proud to have it and to try and enjoy it. I tried to do it. Today it didn't work but sincerely I'm very happy. He is our mentor, our leader.”
He continued, “The most difficult moment outside of today; well not today but yesterday, was Sachsnering. I was very competitive like in Le Mans with a possibility to win the race but I crashed. In that moment I recognised that my weak point was that I'm a rider with a lot of ups and downs, with a good speed but not with consistency. And to accept that was not easy. From that moment I recognised that I had a problem and I tried to improve myself. I just lost the faith on the championship for like one hour after Sachsenring. But even in that moment I was knowing there was a chance to be world champion. We performed in an incredible way in the second part of the season and we analysed everything at home to understand why I was crashing, why I was making so many mistakes. From that moment we did something incredible. We really deserved this title.”
Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana Race Results- Alex Rins / Suzuki Ecstar / 41m 22.25s
- Brad Binder / Red Bull KTM / +0.396s
- Jorge Martin / Pramac Ducati / +1.059s
- Fabio Quartararo / Monster Yamaha / +1.911s
- Miguel Oliveira / Red Bull KTM / +7.122s
- Joan Mir / Suzuki Ecstar / +7.735s
- Luca Marini / Mooney VR46 Ducati / +8.524s
- Enea Bastianini / Gresini Ducati / +12.038s
- Francesco Bagnaia / Ducati Lenovo / +14.441s
- Franco Morbidelli / Monster Yamaha / +14.676s
- Marco Bezzecchi / Mooney VR46 Ducati / +17.655s
- Raul Fernandez / KTM Tech3 / +24.870s
- Remy Gardner / KTM Tech3 / +26.546s
- Takaaki Nakagami / LCR Honda / +26.610s
- Fabio Di Giannantonio / Gresini Ducati / +31.819s
- Cal Crutchlow / WithU Yamaha RNF / +88.870s
- Alex Marquez / LCR Honda / +45.055s
Photo by MotoGP™- source : MotoGP
