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protestations to the contrary, Marquez soon showed he was keen to scrap it out, taking sec- ond off Martin at the start of lap two, and joining onto the back of Bagnaia's rear wheel. And soon, the lead pair were breaking clear of Martin in third, who wasn't looking entirely comfortable, as Espargaro be- came his closest rival starting lap three thanks to a clean pass on Bastianini at turn five. Keen to catch Marquez, his point there were seven bikes biting at his heels, threatening to relegate him to 10th. Yet the 26-year-old was mistake-free on Sunday, as he benefited from the defensive riding of mentor Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Rac - ing) just behind, to eventually ease into a comfortable zone that meant his title was a mere formality in the closing laps. Having shone so bright in 2023 only to regret a litany of mistakes, a cool head prevailed this time around. Here, it was Bagnaia who was left to reflect on what could have been after becoming just the fifth rider in history to score a crazy 11 victories in a single season. His resignation in parc ferme as he watched his rival celebrate spoke of his feeling crushing disappointment. There wasn't a great deal else Bagnaia could have done. Having helped Marquez with a tow in qualifying, ensuring there was at least one rider between himself and his title rival, he also tried to play mind games on the grid. A late switch to Michelin's soft rear tire on the grid briefly threw Martin, who stuck to his guns by selecting the medium. "There were some softs, some hards. I was scared looking at the opponents, thinking, 'Wow, it's really easy to be 10th if they do a good race," Martin said. And the Italian immediately grabbed the initiative on the run to turn one with Martin rising from fourth to second, ahead of Marquez, Enea Bastianini (Leno - vo Ducati), Espargaro and Pedro Acosta (Tech3 KTM). Despite final proceedings, with a last-lap lunge at turn five demoting Mar- tin to third. And Alex Marquez's late mistake at turn 10 promot- ed Espargaro to fourth. Even after trimming the deficit from 24 points to 19, Bagnaia knew overhauling his rival on Sunday would be a tall order. "Jorge did a very good job today," he said. "He managed to start [from the] second row to finish on the podium. I don't think it'll be that tricky for him tomorrow." SUNDAY MOTOGP The Jorge Martin of a year ago may well have cracked under pressure that was heaped on him on Sunday. As Bagnaia and Marc Marquez (Gresini Ducati) pulled clear up front, at one during the weekend, but I had nothing to lose and only good information to gain. I think it was the correct choice, but we did lack grip. We know what we need to improve, but I do think I did one of my best races." Quartararo finished the championship 13th. 36 JOAN MIR 13TH-DNF MOTOGP Honda's last race with long-time team sponsor Repsol officially came to an end at the finale. It wasn't the greatest of send-offs, with team riders Luca Marini 16th in Sunday's GP and Joan Mir suffering a DNF. Mir said, "I was pushing incredibly hard during the race after making a good start, I was feeling good and doing every- thing I could to close to the group in the top 10. Finally, I pushed too much, and I fell, which is a big shame because we can see that there were good points on the table." MYOWNRACE VOLUME ISSUE NOVEMBER , P55 Bagnaia (1) didn't play any games, like backing the field up. He just put the pedal down and cleared off for his 11th GP win of the year.