The Barcelona circuit is preparing to host the final act of the fight between Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia for the MotoGP world title. After twenty rounds in which the two men have left almost nothing to their opponents, the outcome of this duel is approaching. The Italian nevertheless lost big in the last Sprint in Malaysia, when he crashed. He will therefore arrive in Barcelona with a twenty-four point deficit on the championship leader. With thirty-seven at stake in Catalonia, can the Italian still believe in a third consecutive title in the premier class? Before answering, take a look at the statistics of the two riders this season, as well as their past results in Barcelona.
Jorge Martín
Although he has only found victory on three Sundays in 2024, Jorge Martín has truly established himself as the king of the Sprint since the start of the season. Victorious on seven Saturdays, in the space of nineteen rounds, the Spaniard has scored a total of 164 points in the shortest event of a race weekend, 50 more than Bagnaia.
It was this exemplary consistency in the middle of the weekend that allowed Jorge Martín to maintain the championship lead for most of the season. Author of 30 podiums, the Pramac driver got on the box fifteen times in both the main race and the Sprint, while he took seven pole positions out of the nineteen that were up for grabs.
In Barcelona, Jorge Martin has however never won since his entry into the world championship. Second in 2022, as well as in 2024, he has not yet done better on Sunday. The Iberian has also not been on the box during the two Sprints that have been contested there. In 2023, the n°89 finished fifth on Saturday. Barely worse than the fourth place signed in 2024. He nevertheless remains on a series of three consecutive podiums on Sunday. A result that could be enough for him to pocket the title next week.
©Michelin
Pecco Bagnaia
Francesco Bagnaia, for his part, hardly let anything slip away on Sunday. In Malaysia, the Italian ended the weekend with a tenth victory this season. A feat that only a few MotoGP legends have achieved so far. The Italian was not ridiculous in the Sprints, however, with a total of six victories. Apart from these, the number 1 still made a lot of mistakes. In total, Bagnaia had to retire from five Sprint races prematurely this year.
While both men have the same number of podiums on Sunday (15), Bagnaia has only scored nine in the shortened event. In terms of pole positions, Bagnaia has been slightly below Martin's level with five achievements compared to seven.
In Catalonia, Pecco Bagnaia was no more successful than Martin before this year. While he abandoned the event in 2019, he took sixth and then fifth place in the following years. Two retirements then awaited the reigning world champion, who finally put an end to this black streak in 2024, by taking a first victory in the main race in Catalonia, after falling during a Sprint in which he was defending the lead.
