ing back up to the rear of the
front quartet but using too much
tire in the process. Fourth was
as good as he could manage,
ensuring the title was Bagnaia's
even if he didn't finish the race.
Rins' win was his second in
three races and moved him up
to seventh in the championship.
Binder ended up second, with
Martin, Quartararo, Oliveira, Mir,
Marini, Bastianini, Bagnaia and
Morbidelli rounding out the top 10.
It was a torrid race for Aprilia
as both Aleix Espargaro and
Maverick Vinales ended their
races in the pits with mechanical
problems on the RS-GP ma-
chine.
Bagnaia needed to finish 14th
or better and Yamaha's Fabio
Quartararo needed to win if he
was going to wrestle a miracle
title from the Ducati factory team
and there was early drama when
the two made contact at turn two
on lap two, with Bagnaia losing
his right aero wing. That early
issue saw Bagnaia gradually lose
pace, dropping steadily down
the order as Miguel Oliveira (Red
Bull KTM), Joan Mir (Ecstar
Suzuki), Luca Marini (Mooney
VR46 Ducati) and Enea Bastiani-
ni (Gresini Ducati) all came past.
Once Bastianini was through,
however, Bagnaia was relatively
safe despite the attentions of
Franco Morbidelli (Monster En-
ergy Yamaha), crossing the line
ninth to take Ducati's second
world title after Australian Casey
Stoner in 2007.
Up front it was the dream
farewell for Suzuki as Alex Rins
led from start to finish, head-
ing a four-rider freight train that
included Martin, Marc Marquez
(Repsol Honda), Jack Miller
(Lenovo Ducati) and Binder. Mar-
quez and Miller both crashed out
and Binder was the man on the
late charge, moving past Martin
and closing on Rins on the final
lap to end the race three-tenths
of a second back.
Quartararo fought valiantly,
disposing of Bagnaia and charg-
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 45 NOVEMBER 8, 2022 P63
MYOWNRACE
20 FABIO QUARTARARO
4TH MOTOGP
"It was a tough race, especially for the
le side of the re, but I gave my 100
percent," Quartararo said. "It was not
enough to fight for the podium or the
victory. It was ho er today than it was the
previous days, and the le side of my front
re went completely so . That was the
point where I lost the race. I'm a bit disap-
pointed, but congratula ons to Pecco for
winning the tle. Now I just can't wait to
try our new bike. But first we have to cel-
ebrate tonight. Then on Tuesday, we have
that very important test for 2023, and of
course I'm really mo vated because it
concerns our future bike."
(Left) Alex Rins (42) rode a near
perfect race in Suzuki's final
MotoGP appearance. (Below)
Marc Marquez was in contention
but crashed out early.
