Michael Scott | December 20, 2023
Cycle News In The Paddock
COLUMN
Ten of the Best
For the last column of the year, I was going to write about MotoGP’s 75th birthday and how it passed almost uncelebrated. Then I thought, heck, it wasn’t celebrated because nobody cares. Racing’s here and now is enough for the Insta-post age, with its goldfish-shaming attention span.
So please let me look back just once, no further than the past 12 months, before it’s all about 2024’s (yet again) longest-ever calendar.
My yearly task as editor of the annual Motocourse is to express some opinion, possibly completely shallow and certainly personal, via the book’s Top 10. A chance to display my own prejudice, boost riders I admire, and let the others slip down the order. Which, in most cases, is rather hard because it’s impossible not to respect anyone who can achieve success in grand prix racing, whether they have an attractive personality or not.
So here goes. It’s not written in stone. But it is inscribed in a massive tome described by some as the bible of motorcycle racing.
1 – PECCO BAGNAIA
Analytical and stylish, he came in looking strong and composed. Hardly ever out of the top three, seven poles were the most of anybody. Occasional race crashes—including getting run over in Catalunya—were scotched by his brave return a week later to two Misano podiums. Says it all: Deserved his second title.
2 – JORGE MARTIN
The compact, intense Spaniard had a point to prove to Ducati, who passed him over in favor of Bastianini. On an equal factory bike, anyway, he was explosively fast. Nine Sprints and four race wins. He hunted Bagnaia down to the bitter end.
3 – BRAD BINDER
KTM was the most improved bike on the grid. Binder made the most of it. His podium score was diminished by last-lap track-limits penalties—from the aggressive riding style that made him the most accomplished overtaker. Binder deserves special commendation for making top-level racing look such fun.
4 – MARCO BEZZECCHI
Rossi protege shared many of Binder’s characteristics and strengths. On top, he had a Ducati, best bike on the grid. Bezz’s best days were astonishing—as in India’s Sprint, forging through from 17th to fifth after a turn-one tangle. Third overall marked a fine second season for last year’s rookie of the year.
5 – MARC MARQUEZ
A dire season didn’t detract. He gave up trying mid-season, but only after racking up a series of crashes and injuries from a bike that bit. There were still crashes—52—the most in any class, and sometimes he couldn’t stop himself, back on the podium in Japan, and in three Sprints. Moving to Ducati will surely reignite his willingness to take massive risks. And win the title?
6 – FABIO QUARTARARO
Another for whom hard times and uncompetitive machinery couldn’t dim his talent. The 2021 Champion deserved much better than Yamaha gave him and reliably showed his quality. He was bamboozled by the bike’s inability to qualify well, and when he was behind, he couldn’t use the bike’s trademark high corner speed. One GP and three Sprint podiums were a poor reward.
7 – JOHANN ZARCO
MotoGP’s most mature rider waited seven years for his first win—in style at Phillip Island. The articulate Frenchman should prove valuable in helping Honda back to competitive stature with the LCR team in 2024.
8 – LUCA MARINI
Other Ducati riders were flashier, but he got stronger and earned respect with three Sprints and two GP podiums. Intelligent and analytical, these aspects caught the eye of Repsol Honda, who chose Marini to replace Marc Marquez. A risky move.
9 – PEDRO ACOSTA
Youngest-ever Moto2 champ Acosta’s reputation among the MotoGP riders he’ll race next year could hardly be higher, with Marc Marquez predicting he’ll be competitive in his first year—as Marc was—and some put Acosta in the same league. Plenty to prove in 2024.
10 – FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO
Fabio left everyone baffled. Facing unemployment after losing his seat to Marc Marquez’s, he transformed very average results over the last six races, including a perfectly judged career-saving win from Bagnaia in Qatar.
But 10 is not really enough. There was at least one spare on my list and any number of near misses.
The spare was another younger brother laboring under his sibling’s cloud of glory—Alex Marquez—who proved after three years of decline on a Honda just what a difference a Ducati makes. From the start, he was fast, the most improved rider of the year.
And doubtless a big influence in Marc’s decision to join the Ducati hordes, rather than risk a KTM or Aprilia switch.
Finally, Fermin Aldeguer, whose dominance of Moto2 in the later races was breathtaking. By then, however, Acosta had already pretty much wrapped up the title.CN
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