RIDER RATINGS: Bagnaia perfect on crowning day but Martin struggles

Crash.net runs through the rider ratings for the final MotoGP race of the 2023 season. 
Jorge Martin, Pramac Ducati MotoGP Valencia 2023
Jorge Martin, Pramac Ducati MotoGP Valencia 2023

Francesco Bagnaia - 10

A stunning performance from Bagnaia on a day where carnage took place all around him. The now two-time world champion held his cool and after mistakes from Brad Binder and Jack Miller, both of whom were leading at the time, managed to hold off Fabio Di Giannantonio who was quicker in the closing stages.

Fabio Di Giannantonio - 9

Off the back of his maiden MotoGP win, Di Giannantonio was superb as he had the strongest race pace in the closing stages. Very close to winning his second race, Di Giannantonio looked for a way through on Bagnaia at every corner, however, the world champion was brilliant in his defence. 

Johann Zarco - 9 

A brilliant ride to end his time with Ducati, Johann Zarco spent most of the grand prix behind Bagnaia and struggled to find a way through. Zarco’s pace was very strong but he couldn’t hold off Di Giannantonio who squeezed past at turn four.

Brad Binder - 8

Without a grand prix win all season, Binder put himself in prime position to change that as he led following an overtake on Bagnaia. But the KTM rider ran wide at turn 11 and threw away his opportunity as he dropped to sixth. The South African managed to recover to fourth. 

Brad Binder, MotoGP race, Valencia MotoGP, 26 November
Brad Binder, MotoGP race, Valencia MotoGP, 26 November

Raul Fernandez - 9

His best result as a MotoGP, Fernandez showed great pace, coupled with incidents ahead of him, in order to claim fifth place ahead of Alex Marquez.

Alex Marquez - 7

Unable to match his team-mate, Marquez was set for a good result but struggled late on. Marquez was also shoved wide by a recovering Binder at turn four which didn’t help the Spaniard’s top five bid. 

Franco Morbidelli - 7.5 

On his Yamaha farewell, Morbidelli out-performed Fabio Quartararo en route to securing his third seventh place finish of the campaign. 

Aleix Espargaro - 6

After a difficult weekend and sprint race, Espargaro was faster than his team-mate but couldn’t secure a top five for the sixth race in succession. 

Luca Marini - 6 

Another quiet race for the Mooney VR46 Ducati rider, Marini came home in a solid ninth position. 

Maverick Vinales - 6

A strong sprint race for the Spaniard was not backed up in the grand prix as Vinales struggled late on. 

Fabio Quartararo - 5.5

Quartararo was unable to replicate his pace from the sprint but he did avoid crashing out, which was something a lot of riders failed to do. 

Fabio Quartararo, MotoGP, Valencia MotoGP, 25 November
Fabio Quartararo, MotoGP, Valencia MotoGP, 25 November

Takaaki Nakagami - 3.5

The LCR man was the only Honda rider to finish but he was more than 20 seconds off the race win.

Pol Espargaro - 3

Taking part in his last race as a full-time MotoGP rider, Espargaro was running down the order before crashing out at turn 11. 

Alex Rins - 3.5

Making his return to action before joining Yamaha, Rins was one of many riders who ended the main race in the gravel. 

Jack Miller - 4

A very good performance before crashing out of the lead, Miller had a comfortable lead over Bagnaia but suffered a heavy tumble at turn ten.

Jorge Martin - 5

Fantastic in the sprint race, Martin’s title hopes were alive and beating before a mistake at turn one when following Bagnaia was the beginning of the end. Martin got caught out in Bagnaia’s slipstream and dropped down to eighth. The Pramac rider then put a move on Marquez but his the Honda rider which resulted in both riders crashing out. 

Marc Marquez - 5

Out of the race through no fault of his own, Marquez was vicisiouly launched from his bike when Martin clipped him heading into turn four. 

Marco Bezzecchi - 3.5

Bezzecchi was the first rider to crash out as he went down on lap one following an incident with Marc Marquez. 

Enea Bastianini - 4 

Bastianini had a difficult sprint race before crashing out of the grand prix at turn one. A difficult end to the season for the Italian who still doesn’t know if he will be retained in the factory team. 

Augusto Fernandez - 4.5

Fernandez lost all hope of a good result when he went down moments before his team-mate crashed.

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