Ducati team boss Davide Tardozzi joked that someone would have to shoot Pramac rider Jorge Martin for him to finish lower than fourth in Sunday’s MotoGP finale in Barcelona.
Martin is on the verge of winning the 2024 MotoGP title in his final race appearance on a Ducati, despite factory rider Francesco Bagnaia comprehensively outperforming him in Saturday's sprint to take a dominant victory.
With a 19-point advantage in the standings, the Spaniard just needs to finish inside the top nine in order to clinch the world championship and add to his Moto3 title success from 2018.
While Tardozzi has reason to support the title bid of Bagnaia, he admitted that Martin has the upper hand going into the final race of the year in Spain.
“Jorge is deservedly leading the championship and right now he has a way to manage the situation,” he told GPOne.
“He showed his attitude in Sepang: he could have managed the race, instead he made an extraordinary start.
“[For] Martin to finish any worse than fourth place [in Barcelona], you'll have to shoot him. Anything can happen in racing, but Jorge is fast. I think it will not be difficult for him to finish in the top 5 on Sunday.”
Bagnaia did the best he could on Saturday by claiming pole position and scoring the maximum points in the sprint, while Martin finished in third on the Pramac-entered GP24.
Bagnaia’s team-mate Enea Bastianini also earned applause from Ducati after he stole second place away from Martin on the final lap with a bold but clean pass into Turn 5.
The result was important for Bastianini in his fight with Gresini’s Marc Marquez for third place in the championship, especially with Marquez struggling to seventh in the half-distance race.
Tardozzi, who was seen congratulating Bastianini after the sprint, praised the Italian for how he rode like a champion in his final weekend with the team ahead of his move to Tech3 KTM in 2025.
“Enea did his part, he wants third place in the world championship and he was extraordinary both at the start and in the finish,” said Tardozzi.
“Both riders [Bagnaia and Bastianini] were free to do their race and knew their potential well, especially Pecco.
“Enea pulled something out of his hat, because he had struggled in the set-up, but then he brought out the badassness of a champion.”
