#PECCOvsMARTIN: the duel for the crown arrives in the desert Two contenders, 14 points, and a grid of 22 riders are about to take on Lusail – with a first match point potentially on the table Wednesday, 15 November 2023 After 18 Grands Prix offering a maximum of 654 points, 74 are now left in play as we head into the final two Grands Prix of 2023 – and Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) leads pretender to the throne Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) by just 14. This is it: two contenders, two weekends, two Sprints and two races remain, and it all starts at the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar. So choose your team, because the duel for the crown is now #PECCOvsMARTIN. Bagnaia was confident ahead of track action in Sepang that it would be a good weekend for him, and he was proven very much correct. On Saturday morning he took pole for the first time since Barcelona, and in the afternoon he
#PECCOvsMARTIN: the duel is on 2 contenders. 2 weekends. 2 Sprints. 2 races. 1 crown. Tuesday, 14 November 2023 The fight for the 2023 FIM MotoGP™ World Championship is now a duel: #PECCOvsMARTIN. In the red corner it s reigning Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), looking to become the first rider to successfully defend the #1 plate since Mick Doohan. The riders who have since defended the crown, Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez, never chose to run the number 1. Bagnaia would also be the first rider to successfully defend the crown at all since Marc Marquez in 2019. In the purple corner, it s Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), looking to take his maiden MotoGP™ World Championship and become a two-time World Champion. Where Bagnaia has a Moto2™ crown on his way to the premier class, Martin has one from Moto3™. Both, incidentally, taken in the same season (2018). So far in 2023, we ve raced for a maximum of 65