Hervé Poncharal, President of IRTA: “As President of IRTA, and being French, I’m very proud to see the French Grand Prix awarded best of 2022. I think Claude Michy and his staff have done an incredible job. For three decades he’s been doing an amazing job, I think they’ve showed the way to quite a few promoters by having a fanzone, bringing the riders to the crowd, the show on Saturday… every single year there is something special, stunt guys… he has showed that the main focus of a Grand Prix is the MotoGP™ race, but you also need to give a full weekend experience to fans. A fan village, concerts, these extra activities… he has showed the way. On top of that, despite a drought of local heroes in the premier class until Johann and Fabio, despite the weather sometimes being more difficult, they’ve also had an incredible crowd and it has always been one of the best attended Grands Prix.
The Official MotoGP™ Podcast: Last on the Brakes with hosts Frances Wyld and Elliott York, joined by Simon Crafar, MotoGP™ Pitlane reporter and a premier class Grand Prix winner, will review the year and discuss what stood out for them over the past few months. It’s set to be the perfect way to recap the year so far, plus look forward to what’s to come after an intriguing Valencia Test saw plenty of riders make debuts in new teams.
Check out all the best stats from the season just gone in MotoGP™ Fantasy
After a long, hard-fought campaign, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) is your 2022 MotoGP™ World Champion. It was a fascinating season with twists and turns at every corner, and we cannot wait to see what next year has in store for us.
As the curtain comes down on Grand Prix racing for another year, it also does for MotoGP™ Fantasy, where we can now officially declare the winning players! Before we hand out the awards, let’s take a look at some of the best stats from the season below.
Who made the Valencia GP Dream Team?
Alex Rins bid the perfect goodbye to Suzuki with victory at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, and he is our top weekend rider with 42 points. It was a good day for both factory KTMs too, as Brad Binder’s tally of 39 points sees him take the second Gold Rider place, while Miguel Oliveira is a Silver Rider, bringing in 15.5 points for the team.
Poleman Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) placed third as he collected 13 points for the team. Unsurprisingly with two riders in the Dream Team, KTM were the top constructor with 35 points.
What was the ultimate 2022 Dream Team?
It’s little surprise to see that Bagnaia was this year’s top rider in the game, accumulating a total of 507 points over 20 races. Seven wins across the course of the season helped the Italian reach this tally, and it leaves him 61 points ahead of his closest rival; Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™).
The Frenchman, who conceded his World Championship title to Bagnaia at the weekend, still performed well across the season, amassing 446 points in total. Third in the standings is Brad Binder with 435 points. Three podium successes coupled with numerous Sunday charges from deep on the grid helped the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider become one of the most valuable assets in the game across the past year.
Rounding out the team is Enea Bastianini. The now factory Ducati rider claimed four victories across the year while donning the Gresini colours, and he rounds out the MotoGP™ Fantasy 2022 Dream Team with 426 points.
As for the constructor, Ducati stood out with 638 points in total, with KTM a distant second and Yamaha third.
How did the Official MotoGP™ Fantasy team do?
Across 2022, a variety of guests joined Jack Gorst ahead of each GP and selected the riders they thought would bring in the big points. From riders like Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) and Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), to team bosses such as Max Biaggi and Razlan Razali, they all played a part. In the end, the official team collected a respectable 1745 points, placing inside the top 10,000 teams in the MotoGP™ Official League.
So, if the Official MotoGP™ Fantasy team win, who did?
The competition was tough this year, and despite our best efforts and expert guests, we were unable to top the standings. However, three gamers managed to shine more than anyone else!
1st place: MR77 Racing Team – With a grand total of 2,174 points, your winning team comes from Italy, and takes home the top prize of a signed replica helmet from 2021 World Champion Fabio Quartararo. They will also receive a Motul Merchandising package.
2nd place: Team MUKY RS – A Lenovo laptop & MotoGP™ 22 videogame, plus the Motul merchandising package are going the way of this team thanks to a 2162.5 total.
3rd place: Kawagreen – Our final podium finisher, with 2,160.5 points, wins an Official MotoGP™ Tissot Wristwatch and the Motul merchandising package.
Congratulations to all three, and we look forward to having you compete again next year!
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First up, the rider that made the biggest leap forward on his new bike: RNF Aprilia’s Raul Fernandez. The Moto2™ record-breaker had a rookie season to forget on KTM’s RC16 but, despite finishing the Valencia Test 1.3 seconds adrift of Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) in 21st, the Spaniard did go over a quarter of a second faster than what he managed at the weekend. Fernandez’s best lap of Grand Prix was a 1:31.598 set in Free Practice 2 and, on only his first day with Aprilia’s RS-GP, the 22-year-old found a further 0.258 at the Test by setting a 1:31.340.
Conspicuous in their absence from the top 10 are Honda. Of their four riders, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was the best placed in 12th, and initial murmurs from the HRC camp are ones of discontent. The eight-time World Champion tested different chassis, exhausts, intakes a seat, a tail unit and a carbon clutch, but none of it has left him particularly impressed. On a positive note for the Japanese manufacturer, they handed RC213V debuts to ex-Suzuki pair Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) and Alex Rins (LCR Honda Castrol) and they immediately got to work, testing the chassis, intakes, exhausts, tail unit, Kalex swingarm between them.
“With all my guys the relationship is really good,” said the former Moto2™ World Champion, whilst speaking to MotoGP™ pitlane reporter Jack Appleyard at the Japanese Grand Prix. “But with Alby [Alberto Giribuola] the bond is really strong. Next year, in the factory team, the spirit will also be really nice, but Alby won’t come with me. Dario [Massarin – Data Engineer] will and I think we can do some really good work, especially with my new crew chief, Riga [Marco Rigamonti]. So I’m excited for next year.
Don’t miss a second of motogp.com’s coverage with VideoPass, now reduced to only €24.99. You’ll be able to watch live coverage from Valencia today, before then enjoying the best analysis in After The Flag at the 2023 Official Tests next year. Plus, you can satisfy your craving for MotoGP™ by flicking through our archive and enjoying every race from 1992 up to present day.
It was a stunning comeback title win, and Francesco Bagnaia has deservedly been crowned the 2022 MotoGP™ World Champion. The number 63 ended two long waits, bringing a riders’ title back to Ducatiafter 15 years and also becoming the first Italian since Valentino Rossi to win the title in 13 years. Unsurprisingly, Bagnaia has hit the headlines across the globe, and this is how the world’s media reacted!
How appropriate it was to see both Italian legends Giacomo Agostini and Rossi in the Ducati garage at the Ricardo Tormo circuit. Vale, the last Italian MotoGP™ World Champion back in 2013. Ago, the last Italian rider to win the premier class on an Italian machine 50 years ago. Yes, half a century ago way back in 1972. Vale tried but failed in his two seasons with Ducati. Stoner won Ducati’s only other MotoGP™ Championship riding the 800cc machine but of course, he is Australian. It is an amazing fact that just two countries have produced premier class World Champions riding machinery built in their country. Since Grand Prix racing began in 1949 only Italy and Great Britain have achieved such a feat. Others and especially Japan have tried but still wait to join the exclusive double club.
The season finale didn’t disappoint, with Alex Rins taking the win to deliver the perfect farewell to Suzuki, but the day belonged to Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team). The Italian is the newly crowned MotoGP™ World Champion having stolen the title from Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.
