VALENCIA, Spain — Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia gained the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix on Sunday to assert a second straight MotoGP world championship after closest contender Jorge Martin crashed out following a collision with Marc Marquez.

Pramac Racing’s Martin, who was 14 factors behind Bagnaia going into the ultimate race, made the title race tighter by successful Saturday’s dash however was finally unable to thwart the Italian.

Bagnaia, who started the race on pole after Maverick Vinales was handed a three-place penalty, had a superb begin however was matched within the first two laps by Martin, who moved up from sixth into second by flip two of the race.

Nonetheless, Martin was reckless in his eagerness to overhaul Bagnaia, and a coming-together between the 2 on flip one of many third lap resulted within the Spaniard being compelled vast and dropping all the way down to seventh.

Martin threw warning to the wind on the Circuit Ricardo Tormo and tried to surge again up the leaderboard, however clipped Marquez’s rear and was left within the gravel on lap six.

The crash ensured a dismal finish to six-time MotoGP champion Marquez’s tenure at Honda, along with his last race for the Japanese producers ending in a non-finish. Marquez will be part of Gresini Racing in 2024.

KTM’s Jack Miller led the race for a big interval after overtaking Bagnaia within the fifteenth lap, with the Italian rider content material to concede the lead, however the Australian crashed onerous within the twentieth lap to throw away his shot on the checkered flag.

With clear observe in entrance of him, Bagnaia crossed the end line first to seal the title in emphatic style, although he needed to maintain off Gresini Racing’s Fabio Di Giannantonio and Pramac Racing’s Johann Zarco — who completed second and third.

“Superb, I haven’t got many phrases now. It was a protracted race, 27 laps of battle as a result of I did not really feel good within the entrance,” Bagnaia mentioned.

“I let the KTM riders previous after which the sensation turned higher, perhaps as a result of the strain or the temperature modified.

“From that second I used to be capable of push, however in the previous few laps I used to be fully with out tires, however we did it. It was fairly robust, however we did it. We gained the title, we gained the race, it is not possible to get any higher than this.”

Marco Bezzecchi of VR46 Racing, Ducati’s Enea Bastianini and GasGas Manufacturing facility Racing Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez have been additionally unable to complete the crash-filled race.