#PECCOvsMARTIN: Who will be crowned our 75th Champion?

25 Nov 2023

With just 14 points in it, we're on for a title decider in the very last race of 2023! But the big question is... who is going to take it?

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NEWS 2023

Saturday's action at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana threw up plenty of talking points with the Championship battle getting closer and closer. Find out more in 10 things you need to know ahead of race day at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo!

1. With 14 points between Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin after the Tissot Sprint, both of them now have a chance to clinch the title on Sunday. It’s the closest gap going into the final race since the 2015 season finale, when it was just seven points.

2. Championship leader Bagnaia finished P5 in the Sprint, and he will be aiming to take his seventh GP win of the season which would equal his personal record in MotoGP™ set last year and to clinch his second MotoGP™ title against Martin

3. Viñales has qualified on pole, setting a new all-time lap record in Valencia, ending a streak of 15 successive poles by Ducati. This is the 25th pole of his Grand Prix career, his first since the 2021 Dutch TT and his first with Aprilia. This is Aprilia’s second pole this season along with Aleix Espargaro in Jerez. Viñales finished P4 in the Sprint after leading the opening six laps and he is in the running to make history on Sunday by taking MotoGP™ Grand Prix wins with three different factories (after already winning with Suzuki and Yamaha).

4. With Bagnaia and Zarco, this is the 60th successive GP where there is at least one Ducati rider within the top three in qualifying.

5. Martin took his ninth Sprint win of the season and on Sunday, will be aiming to take his fifth Grand Prix win and try to recover more than 14 points to Bagnaia and clinch the title.

"Go for it. Always!" - Bagnaia to come out guns blazing

With his advantage down to 14 points, the Italian dismissed the notion he will take a conservative approach ahead of Sunday's title decider

6. Third in the Championship, Bezzecchi has qualified seventh, which is the 10th time this year he failed to qualify within the top six despite challenging for the Championship until late in the season. He finished P7 in the Sprint and will be aiming to take his fourth MotoGP™ win on Sunday (along with Argentina, France and India this year).

7. After passing through Q1, Alex Marquez has qualified eighth which is the 13th time this season he qualified within the top three rows. He finished P8 in the Sprint, and he will now be aiming to take his maiden premier class win or add to his premier class podium collection: two with Honda and two with Ducati so far.

8. Marquez, who crashed in Q2, has qualified ninth which is the 12th time so far this year he qualified within the top nine. He finished P3 in the Sprint (his third Sprint podium) and if he were to win the Grand Prix race, it would be his first victory since Emilia-Romagna 2021, 763 days ago. This is Marquez’ last appearance with Repsol Honda before his move to Gresini in 2024.

9. Fernandez has qualified 10th for his second-best qualifying result in MotoGP™ after he qualified ninth in Qatar last time out. He finished P11 in the Sprint and will be aiming to score his best result in MotoGP™ if he can beat his P8 taken in Misano this year.

10. Di Giannantonio finished P6 in the Sprint and will be aiming to take his second MotoGP™ win along with Qatar and to become the only rider to take back-to-back Grand Prix wins in the class this season. If he doesn’t win, 2023 will make history as the only year since the inaugural season in 1949 in which no rider has achieved back-to-back GP wins.