- 2023-11-27
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Donate to support families affected by the crisis in Ukraine ➔ MotoGP Valencia GP: Francesco Bagnaia Wins Valencia GP, Second Straight MotoGP Title
Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana watched Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) took his seventh victory of the season and back-to-back MotoGP world championship titles at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Cheste on November 26, 2023.
Francesco Bagnaia started from pole position following a penalty for Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) three-place grid penalty for ignoring the black and orange flags in Warm Up.
While, his title rival Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) moved up 2nd from 6th following Francesco Bagnaia on the opening lap.
But he contacted with Francesco Bagnaia at Turn 1 on lap 3, and dropped 8th.
And he tried to overtake Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) at Turn 4 on lap 6, but contacted with him and both riders crashed out. At the point, Jorge Martin's world title challenge was game over.
When Marc Marquez crashed out, Francesco Bagnaia lost the top by Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM).
In additionally, Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM) passed his team-mate on lap 7 and led the race. But, Jack Miller crashed out at Turn 10 on lap 19. Francesco Bagnaia led the race again.
Finally, Francesco Bagnaia won the Valencia GP, despite being put under pressure on lap 26 and the final lap by Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Ducati), who moved up to 2nd from 11th, and Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati).
Francesco Bagnaia is the first Ducati rider in history to win two MotoGP titles.
Fabio Di Giannantonio finished 2nd but was given a three-second penalty for breaching the tire pressure rule after the race, causing him to drop to 4th. Johann Zarco moved up to 2nd, and Brad Binder claimed 3rd.
Raul Fernandez (RNF Aprilia) finished 5th ahead of Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati ), who was 6th. Franco Morbidelli (Monster Yamaha) was 7th capping off his Yamaha career.
Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Ducati) and Maverick Viñales rounded out the top 10.
Francesco Bagnaia said, “I feel incredible. I feel at the top level of happiness which was never like this. The thing is, I'm so happy as well because I won the race. With the circumstances today it was useless to win the race but it was my dream to do this. I'm so happy but I was scared. With five laps I started to get cold on the bike and I was very scared on the bike because of the front tyre which was the hard. It was not an easy day because I was quite under pressure. It's difficult to compare. Last year Fabio started really well but as soon as I started to win he was more in trouble. He was fast, he is super fast but his bike was not giving him the possibility to fight against me. We were in a different situation. With Jorge, after Barcelona he was with much more confidence every weekend and it was difficult to stop. Then I crashed in India when I was in front of him so for sure it was a plus. It was more difficult this year. Sharing more data is useful but more stressful sometimes. Vale… yesterday he asked me why I chose the medium rear and I was asking myself the same. I didn't understand why I chose the medium for the sprint race but for today it was useful. He was just telling me to be calm, to understand the situation and Jorge was in the worst situation because he needed to win. A win for him and I needed to finish fifth, and I was faster than to be in the top five.”
Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana Race Results- Francesco Bagnaia / Ducati Lenovo / 40m 58.535s
- Johann Zarco / Pramac Ducati / +0.360s
- Brad Binder / Red Bull KTM / +2.347s
- Fabio Di Giannantonio / Gresini Ducati / +3.176s
- Raul Fernandez / RNF Aprilia / +4.636s
- Alex Marquez / Gresini Ducati / +4.708s
- Franco Morbidelli / Monster Yamaha / +4.736s
- Aleix Espargaro / Aprilia Racing / +8.014s
- Luca Marini / Mooney VR46 Ducati / +9.486s
- Maverick Viñales / Aprilia Racing / +10.556s
- Fabio Quartararo / Monster Yamaha / +12.001s
- Takaaki Nakagami / LCR Honda / +21.695s
- Lorenzo Savadori / RNF Aprilia / +43.297s
- Pol Espargaro / Tech3 GASGAS / +2 laps
Photo by MotoGP- source : MotoGP
