VALENCIA: Francesco Bagnaia claimed the MotoGP crown in the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix on Sunday to pull off the greatest title turnaround in the championship’s history.

The Ducati rider, who trailed outgoing champion Fabio Quartararo by 91 points mid-season, completed his astonishing comeback with ninth place behind race winner Alex Rins.

Back in June, Quartararo looked sure to defend his crown after success in Germany. His subsequent collapse was painful for his fans as Bagnaia reeled in the Frenchman with the help of four consecutive wins to take a 23-point lead going into the season-finale in Spain.

That left the French rider needing to win, and Bagnaia finish out of the top 14, to retain his crown, a mission that was to prove impossible.

Quartararo could only muster fourth behind Rins, who was supplying Suzuki with a fairytale result in their MotoGP swansong with the Japanese constructor pulling the plug on their MotoGP involvement.KTM’s South African rider Brad Binder and pole-sitter Jorge Martin,a Spaniard on a Ducati Pramac, completed the podium.

Bagnaia, the Moto2 champion in 2018, sealed his first MotoGP championship 17 points clear of Quartararo after a tense deciding leg of the 20-race season.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2022