The Catalunya-Barcelona Circuit replaced Valencia as the second race of 2024, the season-closing event, called the Solidarity GP (with the meaning of solidarity towards Valencia). There were no “overturns” and MotoGP welcomed a new champion, along with achievements for the first time in the 75-year history of the tournament.
David Alonso secured his seventh and final pole position of 2024, with a 0.3s lead over his two rivals, Collin Veijer and Ivan Ortola. Alonso started well to secure the number 1 position, but his rivals closed in quickly to make things difficult for the champion. Driver #80 used his usual strategy this year, slowing down in the middle of the race. Alonso’s record 14th win in a season
Despite dropping to eighth place, he came back at the most crucial moment, while his rivals failed to find a solution to Alonso. Nothing could stop him from reaching his 14th victory in 2024, an unprecedented achievement in the 75-year history of MotoGP.
Alonso finished the season with 425 points, 165 more than Daniel Holgado, who finished second and won the season’s runner-up. Angel Piqueras finished third on the podium, while Veijer finished third overall.
Aron Canet took his sixth pole position of the season after beating Manuel Gonzalez in Q2. The Spanish duo were also favourites to win the final race of the season. Canet made a poor start and dropped to ninth, but quickly recovered on lap four and began to open up a gap to the chasing pack.
At one point he was 1.1s ahead of Gonzalez, but the #18 driver closed in and put pressure on him in the final laps. However, Canet’s experience and character were on display to secure his fourth win and finish second in 2024.
Gonzalez finished second but moved into third overall, just four points ahead of Sergio Garcia. The battle for the remaining podium spot was between champion Ai Ogura and rookie Diogo Moreira, with the Brazilian winning to secure his first Moto2 podium of his career.
The cold weather in Catalunya proved difficult for the riders, including temporary leader Jorge Martin. Francesco Bagnaia, on the other hand, looked very relaxed ahead of the decisive stage, winning pole for both races with a time of 1:38.641. Marc Marquez and Martin finished 3rd and 4th respectively, while Enea Bastianini finished 8th.
Bagnaia wins sponsor’s award for outstanding qualifying performance
Bagnaia continued to be confident in the Sprint race, maintaining his advantage from the start. Martin moved into second but was attacked by Bastianini and the two fought each other relentlessly.
After a few competitive laps, Martin took second place, but Bastianini refused to give up. He launched an attack on the final lap that Martin could not respond to, and from there he excellently finished second, pushing Martin down to third. Bagnaia easily won the Sprint and narrowed the gap to 19 points.
In the main race, the scenario repeated itself with Bagnaia having no rival in the number 1 position, although this time M.Marquez was the one running behind him. Martin ran safely in 3rd, a position that guaranteed the world championship for the #89 driver. M. Marquez kept close to Bagnaia through each lap, but that was not enough to “usurp” the Italian driver. The race continued to go down to the final minutes without any outstanding situations.
Bagnaia completed the mission with 2 wins in Catalunya, M.Marquez finished second and officially finished 3rd in the whole season because Bastianini only ranked 7th in the main race. The happiest person is certainly Jorge Martin, when he officially won the first MotoGP world championship of his career. He also helped Pramac Racing become the first independent racing team for a world champion rider. A beautiful farewell for the “destroyer” Martinator with Ducati to join Aprilia in 2025.