MotoGP Valencia Results, Race | Suzuki, Rins victorious, Bagnaia champion

MotoGP arrives in Valencia this weekend for the 20th and final round of the 2022 season, with the premier class title still to be decided between Fabio Quartararo and Francesco Bagnaia, who will start Sunday's race with a 23-point lead over his rival. Check this page throughout the weekend for full MotoGP Valencia results.​

Overview

Race - Alex Rins takes a final victory for Suzuki as Francesco Bagnaia becomes MotoGP champion.

Qualifying - Jorge Martin scores fifth pole of the season, as title contenders qualify fourth and eighth

Combined Practice - Jack Miller fastest as title contenders confirm Q2 places for qualifying

Race

The stage was set about as perfectly as it could be for the MotoGP title decider in Valencia. Pleasant conditions greeted the riders for the final race of 2022, which was won by Alex Rins, while Francesco Bagnaia finished ninth, and won the title.

Jorge Martin started from pole position for the fifth time in 2022 at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia. Francesco Bagnaia needed to finish in the top 14 to guarantee the title, and started eighth, while Fabio Quartararo required the 25 points earned for a win, and started fourth.

Off the line, Alex Rins was the best, and he led lap one. Fabio Quartararo made a good start and was aggressive with Jack Miller, who gave it back on lap two and opened the door for Bagnaia, who took fifth place after a significant - but clean - duel. It did come at the cost of a winglet for Bagnaia, though.

Quartararo reclaimed fifth from Bagnaia at turn six on lap four, but he had two seconds in front of him by now before he arrived at the leading four, which was headed by Rins, with Martin, Jack Miller and Marc Marquez behind.

That group was reduced to three on lap 10, as Marc Marquez crashed out. It was always an 'all or nothing' race for Marquez, but his attention for most of the last two weeks have likely been more on the post-race test on Tuesday than the Grand Prix, as he and HRC look to improve the RC213V ahead of the 2023 season.

For the mid-part of the race, it devolved into questions of how far Bagnaia would fall, and how close Quartararo could get to the leaders. By lap 17, Bagnaia was down to seventh, while Quartararo - and Brad Binder - were closing in on the leading three. When they arrived, Binder passed Quartararo, and it was also clear that Rins was pulling away from Martin at the very front.

Even Luca Marini passed Bagnaia, which left Enea Bastianini in the #63's wake. When Bastianini made his move, Bagnaia stepped almost comically out of the way. He had no interest - six laps from his second world title - in taking risks with the rider who will arrive alongside him in the factory Ducati box on Tuesday.

On lap 23, Brad Binder passed Jack Miller (who crashed out soon after) for third place, and set his sights on Jorge Martin. Rins still led, but the South African was the danger to a final race victory for Suzuki.

Brad Binder passed Martin on lap 26, meaning he had a-lap-and-a-half to catch and pass Rins for the win, but it was not enough time, and Rins was able to secure his second win in three races, and a (dominant) win for Suzuki in their final MotoGP race (for now, at least).

Curiously, Franco Morbidelli - Quartararo's Yamaha teammate, but also Bagnaia's fellow VR46 Academy rider - arrived on the back of Bagnaia on the penultimate lap. He had a half-lunge at turn 12, which looked sketchy, but finally Bagnaia did enough - with eighth place - to clinch his first MotoGP title, and Ducati's first Riders' Championship since Casey Stoner in 2007.

Brad Binder and Jorge Martin joined Rins on the podium. For Binder, missing victory in Valencia marked his first season without a win since 2015. 

Fabio Quartararo was outdone by faster motorcycles, and undone by his own savage, lap-long battle with Bagnaia early on, which ultimately was a necessity for him given his points deficit. Bagnaia fought hard, so he had to fight hard in response, but it created a gap to the leaders that was too big for Quartararo to close. 

Completing the top five was Miguel Oliveira in his final race for KTM. With a better qualifying, he might have challenged for the podium. As it was, he was six sconds short of it, and just over half-a-second clear of Suzuki's 2020 World Champion, Joan Mir in sixth. 

Luca Marini took his time to decide whether to pass Bagnaia when he was behind him. That the #10 made the move shows just how far Bagnaia was willing to let his pace slide in order to be safe. Marini finished seventh, but like Oliveira was - at least in part - a victim of a poor qualifying performance.

In eighth place, Enea Bastianini closed his season finishing ahead of his teammate for 2023, and by clinching third in the championship and all the bonus money that no doubt goes with that. The battle between himself and Aleix Espargaro was over long before the race, though, as the Aprilia rider retired early on.

The top 10 was closed by the new MotoGP World Champion, Francesco Bagnaia, and Franco Morbidelli.

Full results from the MotoGP race in Valencia are below.

2022 Valencian Grand Prix | Circuit Ricardo Tormo | Race Results | Round 20 / 20

Qualifying

It has been the case for a few races now, but qualifying in Valencia for the MotoGP riders (two of them in particular) would be one of the most important sessions of the season. Jack Miller was the fastest rider after free practice and heading into qualifying, but it was Jorge Martin who took the final pole position of 2022.

Before both Fabio Quartararo and Francesco Bagnaia went out in Q2 to decide grid positions for the title-deciding race, Q1 would be an important session in the battle for third in the championship. For fans, it is almost irrelevant, but for the riders involved (primarily Enea Bastianini and Aleix Espargaro, although it is still mathematically possible for Jack Miller) it is of increased importance. For Bastianini, he has a contract with Ducati which is bonus-heavy, meaning his base salary is relatively low but the rewards for performing well are quite high. For Aleix Espargaro, the situation is similar, but at 33-years-old, an FIM bronze medal would likely be highly coveted by the #41 Aprilia rider. 

The importance of Q1 for this bronze medal battle arose thanks to Bastianini's inability to directly qualify for Q2 from free practice. Instead, the #23 would have to finish in the top two of Q1 in order to join Espargaro - who ended free practice in seventh - in the shootout for the front four rows. 

After the first laps in Q1, Bastianini was second, but half-a-second behind the pace-setting Maverick Vinales, but after the first runs were over, Bastianini was pushed out as Alex Rins hit the top. 

Vinales resumed the top spot with the first lap of his second tyre, and although Rins was briefly knocked out of Q2 by Bastianini, he reclaimed second in Q1 just as Bastianini crashed out of the session. No one else was able to penetrate the top two, so it was the two Spaniards who fought until the final corner for the Moto3 title in Valencia nine years ago who would progress to the final MotoGP Q2 of 2022.

That meant it was advantage Espargaro ahead of Q2 in the context of the third-place championship battle. But, of course, the main interest surrounded the title contenders: Quartararo and Bagnaia. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was Jorge Martin who set the pace after the first runs of Q2, while Francesco Bagnaia was last of the riders who set a time early. Only Maverick Vinales did not set a lap, because he only had one new tyre remaining after Q1. After Vinales' first lap, Bagnaia was 12th. 

Bagnaia recovered to eighth on his second run, but the unusual way Bagnaia has gone about this weekend clearly continued, and can only be put down to the stress, tension, and nerves created by his championship situation this weekend. 

On the other hand, Quartararo has nothing to lose in Valencia, and has been riding as free as he has done since he last won in Germany. He qualified fourth, at the head of a second row which also features Alex Rins in fifth, and Maverick Vinales in sixth. 

Ahead of the reigning champion, Jorge Martin took his fifth pole position of the season (to equal Bagnaia for the year), while Marc Marquez was second, and Jack Miller third despite a crash on his final hot lap.

Either side of Bagnaia on row three will be Brad Binder in seventh, and Johann Zarco in ninth; while Aleix Espargaro will start from 10th (directly ahead of Bastianini in 13th), alongside Luca Marini and Joan Mir in 11th and 12th, respectively. 

Full MotoGP qualifying results from Valencia are below.

2022 Valencian Grand Prix | Circuit Ricardo Tormo | Qualifying Results

Combined Practice

Free Practice for the Valencian Grand Prix featured three of the strangest sessions of the season, as the title contenders faced the challenges of their own respective circumstances ahead of the weekend. In the end, neither reigning champion Fabio Quartararo nor current points leader Francesco Bagnaia were fastest, instead it was Jack Miller who led the MotoGP field into the final qualifying session of the season.

A mixed Friday for Francesco Bagnaia left him on the fringes of the top 10 overnight in Valencia, while Fabio Quartararo had looked arguably the strongest on race runs but was, as usual, faced with unfavourable chances against the eight Ducati riders (or, at least seven of them) when it came to time attacks and qualifying. 

Luca Marini headed into Friday as the fastest rider, and his opinion - reported by Motomatters - was that the Ducati is able to make use of more of its power earlier in the straights when using the soft tyre, thanks to its extra grip. Then, when the Ducati riders reach the end of the straight, they are able to brake harder when using the soft rear tyre, because it offers better connection, and therefore stability, when turning in.

Marini's Mooney VR46 Racing Team teammate, Marco Bezzecchi, faired less well on Saturday morning. He crashed in turn seven, which on Moto3 is flat out, but on MotoGP is essentially a deceleration zone for turn eight. With a MotoGP bike, the riders start to brake just before the apex of turn seven, and on an out-lap it would seem Bezzecchi was just a little too late on the brakes, with a little too much pressure for the temperature he had in the brakes at that point. The red flag was briefly brought out as Bezzecchi's Desmosedici caught fire. 

When track action resumed, Bezzecchi was back out on track, although a bit later than the other riders, and on his out-lap he this time got in the way of Fabio Quartararo through turns eight and nine. Presumably being cautious, Bezzecchi was cruising trying to get things up to temperature, but seemed ignorant of the #20 Yamaha behind him, as well as Quartararo's teammate, Franco Morbidelli, and the Tech 3 KTM of Remy Gardner.

After 20 minutes it was clear that FP3 was a difficult session for the riders. After Bezzecchi's out-lap crash, there were also crashes for Enea Bastianini, Maverick Vinales, Takaaki Nakagami, Raul Fernandez, Brad Binder, and even a second for Bezzecchi. The crashes were thought to be the result of low track temperatures, which would also explain the caution of several riders on-track, most notably the aforementioned Bagnaia, desperate to not make a mistake. 

The first time attack came from Joan Mir, who was not able to get into the top 10 thanks to a mistake in the final corner. Jack Miller, though, was the first rider to displace Luca Marini from the top when he crossed the line with just under 15 minutes to go. 

Miller became the first rider of the weekend into the 1:29s, as well, with his second time attack run, and that was enough to stay top. Johann Zarco was second, ahead of Brad Binder, Luca Marini, and Fabio Quartararo who completed the top five. Marc Marquez was sixth, from Aleix Espargaro, Jorge Martin, a nervous Bagnaia, and Joan Mir who took the final direct Q2 spot.

Full MotoGP practice results from Valencia are below.

2022 Valencian Grand Prix | Circuit Ricardo Tormo | Combined Free Practice Results

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