Jorge Martín was the 2024 MotoGP world champion, making history as the first since 2001 to achieve it with a satellite team. He finished ten points ahead of Francesco Bagnaia, from Ducati.
Wayne Gardner was asked by the site Motosan.es how he evaluates this achievement by the Spaniard. The Australian highlighted Martín’s talent, as well as his consistency:
– He has always been a great talent. He had ups and downs over the years, but since joining Ducati and the satellite team, his approach has improved a lot. In fact, his satellite team, Pramac, is a very, very good team. It’s almost like a factory team. He rode well. This year he had a factory bike. There is not much difference between him and Pecco. I think Pecco is probably the faster of the two, but Jorge Martín perhaps had a little more stability in his riding.
The former rider also emphasized the superiority of the top two in the championship and concluded by stating that Martín deserved to be champion: ‘They are two very talented riders, and to be in that team [Pramac] or Ducati this year, they were undoubtedly the two riders who stood out the most. We all thought one of these two would win the championship, and they finished first and second. Therefore, Jorge Martín deserves it. He did a great job this year. He had a little more consistency than Pecco, but when the bike wasn’t right, he managed to keep it under control, rack up points and, as they say, «points win prizes». So, he crowned himself champion and deserves it, he did a great job’.