MotoGP - Solidarity Grand Prix of Barcelona - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain - November 17, 2024 Prima Pramac Racing's Jorge Martin celebrates on the podium after winning the MotoGP World Championship REUTERS/Pablo Morano
(Reuters) - Five months after Jorge Martin was overlooked for the factory Ducati seat, the Spaniard will hop off its all-conquering Desmosedici bike as its best rider and move to Aprilia as MotoGP champion.
Having gone agonisingly close in 2023 only to lose the title to Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia in the final race, a fired up Martin, who said he had had the MotoGP crown stolen from him, made a promise: "Next year is mine."
Martin redeemed himself this year, using the disappointment to fuel his title challenge while showing maturity and consistency to deny Bagnaia a rare third straight title despite winning far fewer races than the Italian.
Bagnaia won 11 of this season's 20 grands prix to Martin's three, but it was the Spaniard's performances in the half-distance races on Saturdays that reinforced the Pramac Racing rider's reputation as MotoGP's true "Sprint King".
Martin finished on the podium in either the sprint or the race -- if not both -- in every round of the season, a staggering 32 podiums in 40 races to finally get his name etched on the dazzling MotoGP Champions Tower trophy.
"It's been a long journey. I think my career wasn't easy. For sure I had good opportunities in front of me, but I think I built them," Martin said.
"I worked quite hard. I make a lot of sacrifices at home every day to try to be a better man.
"Last season I had the opportunity but I think I wasn't prepared to win... But this year I felt it, I felt that it was my year."
As Bagnaia lost points from several crashes, he quickly found himself playing catch-up in the second half of the season.
An innocuous slide in the sprint in the penultimate round in Sepang as he hunted down his title rival saw his bike and the title all but slip away from Bagnaia.
Despite winning the race in Sepang ahead of Martin in a feisty contest and following it up with a sprint-race double in Barcelona, Bagnaia finished 10 points behind Martin.
'LEARN FROM THE PAIN'
As in 2023, Pramac and Martin had the same bike as Bagnaia's factory Ducati but the Spaniard's performances in 2024 are a far cry from a year ago when he crumbled under the pressure and failed to finish on the podium in the final three races.
This season, barring the ill-advised gamble to swap bikes when it rained briefly at the San Marino Grand Prix, Martin has rarely put a foot wrong.
"Last season I was really tense and really nervous. I was really struggling with the situation and I felt a lot of pressure," Martin had said in Sepang.
"This year... I think I've improved a lot. I'm much more mature now...
"I try to learn from the pain and the bad moments. I think that's where you learn more, losing can also be really exciting."
Bagnaia's crash in the Sepang sprint was the fifth time the twice-world champion had failed to score points in the shorter races as the errors piled up to give Martin a commanding advantage.
Despite Ducati clinching the constructors championship with six rounds to spare, the factory team has had little to celebrate in recent months.
Coupled with the intense humidity at Sepang, a palpable air of resignation hung heavy on the Ducati garage. An emotional Martin then inevitably clinched the title in Barcelona.
Once considered a shoo-in for the factory seat, Martin took matters into his own hands when it became clear Ducati were leaning towards six-times MotoGP champion Marc Marquez to become Bagnaia's teammate next season.
At the time, Martin felt scorned by Ducati and said Aprilia "really wanted" him.
At the end of the season, he will leave Ducati behind having had the last laugh and with the number one on his bike next year.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
