Jorge Martin’s road to becoming the 2024 MotoGP world champion

Words and images courtesy MotoGP

Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) is the 2024 MotoGP World Champion! He took a 24-point lead into the title-deciding weekend at the Motul Solidarity GP of Barcelona. Jorge Martin held his nerve to perfection to win his first premier class title by 10 points. He became the first Independent Team rider to win the title in the MotoGP era.

Jorge Martin made his debut on the world stage in 2015 with Mapfre Mahindra. He moved up after taking the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. He scored his first point in the season opener in Qatar and became a regular top 15 contender. He ended his rookie year in 17th overall. The following season, the rider from Madrid took another step forward. This included his first podium in the wet at Brno. However, he also missed a couple of races through injury. He ended the season just one place further forward in 16th overall.

2017 saw Martin cement his place at the front as he moved to Del Conca Gresini Moto3, beginning the year on the podium in third at Qatar. He took nine pole positions and eight further podiums that season. However, it was a long wait for one to be a maiden win. The Spaniard wrapped that up in the season finale at Valencia. His first trip to the top step set him up perfectly for an assault on the crown the following year. He took fourth overall in the standings.

2018 began perfectly as Jorge Martin won in Qatar. It was a year that saw the Spanish star really make a name for himself on the Grand Prix scene. He secured seven wins and set a new Moto3 pole position record (11). However, it was the Moto3 World Championship crown that counted most. For the first time, Martin was a World Champion. A move to Moto2 with Red Bull KTM Ajo beckoned for 2019.

A difficult year for rider and machine followed in his rookie intermediate class season. It wasn’t until the Japanese GP that we saw Martin return to the podium. That P3 was backed up by a P2 in Australia. A good end-of-season run set up 2020 nicely for one of Grand Prix racing’s brightest prospects.

Three podiums in the first six races in 2020 included a debut Moto2 win in Austria. When sitting just eight points back from title leader Luca Marini, Jorge Martin then had to miss the San Marino and Emilia-Romagna GPs. This was due to testing positive for Covid-19. Two more 0s cost him dearly in his quest to become Moto2 World Champion.

2021 was when the Prima Pramac Racing and Jorge Martin story began as the combination teamed up in the premier class. The first chapter was one to remember! Martin stuck it on pole in just his second outing and claimed P3 in the Doha GP. This immediately raised eyebrows in MotoGP. However, a big crash at the next race in Portimao left Martin with eight fractures and forced him to miss four races. Nevertheless, Martin banished those demons to win the Styrian GP from pole position. He backed that maiden victory up in style the following weekend with a P3 from pole.

Capping off a rollercoaster rookie MotoGP season with a second place finish in Valencia, 2022 promised a lot. However, it delivered a little less at times. It was a tougher start with Jorge Martin unable to unleash his full potential. His sophomore season ended with four podiums, but none of them were wins.

After that more difficult-than-expected 2022 season, Martin came into 2023 hunting a much more consistent campaign. The year didn’t get off to the cleanest of starts. Two Sunday DNFs came in the first three races. A P4 on home soil in Jerez got the ball rolling. A debut Tissot Sprint win arrived in France. That was backed up with a double podium in Italy at Mugello. From there, Martin’s title challenge against Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) was born. Martin went on to become the Sprint King in 2023. The #89 won seven of the last nine Saturday outings. Having won three Sunday races in the second half of the season, Jorge Martin landed in Valencia 21 points adrift of Pecco.

After winning the Sprint, Martin cut the gap. However, Sunday saw the home hero suffer a DNF. Martin agonisingly missed out on the MotoGP title last season. That only added fuel to the fire in his pursuit of going one better in 2024.

A Sprint win and Sunday P3 in Qatar was a solid start to the year. That was followed up by a first 25-point haul in Portugal. Leaving Round 2, Jorge Martin led the Championship. From there, he’s only lost it to Bagnaia once. The key to Jorge Martin’s success in 2024 was consistency. Between Round 5 and 18, Martin only missed out on a Sunday podium twice. The first was in Germany when he crashed out of the lead with two laps to go. The second was at the San Marino GP when a tyre switch gamble didn’t pay off.

After six P2 finishes in that stretch, a return to winning ways on Sunday in Indonesia followed. This happened after a Sprint crash. Jorge Martin started to become the favourite for the title. A P2 in Japan, a Sprint win and P2 in Australia and a pair of P2s in Thailand saw Martin land in Malaysia with a 17-point lead over Pecco.

In the Sprint, Jorge Martin was superb to claim a crucial 12 points as Pecco, dramatically, crashed out of P2. That meant Martin had a 29-point lead coming into Sunday’s 20-lap race in Sepang. With a P2 finish, Martin made sure he held a healthy 24-point advantage over Pecco ahead of #TheRematch decider.

In Barcelona, Jorge Martin qualified fourth and finished P3 in the Tissot Sprint. He headed into Sunday’s race with a simple objective—finish P9 or better. That’s exactly what Jorge Martin did. Despite Bagnaia’s perfect weekend, Jorge Martin claimed a safe P3 in front of his home fans to become the 2024 World Champion. This was a year after missing out on the crown in Valencia. A phenomenal job from the #89. He became a MotoGP World Champion and two-time World Champion before he leaves Ducati for Aprilia in 2025.

Here are the details of the final showdown…. SuperBike Magazine – Bagnaia wins in Barcelona – but Martin takes the 2024 MotoGP title

Also, find out what Jorge Martin has to say…SuperBike Magazine – Jorge Martin: The stats and the Q&A