Francesco Bagnaia successfully defended his Riders' Championship at the final race in Valencia, marking the first repeat Riders' Champion forDucati since the manufacturer entered the series.[3] Winning 17 of 20 Grands Prix and 16 of 19 sprints,Ducati secured their fifth (and fourth consecutive) Constructors' Championship. Ducati satellite teamPramac Racing won the Teams' Championship.
The season was notable for having eight different Grand Prix winners and no back-to-back Grand Prix winners for the first time sincethe inaugural season in 1949.[3] ManufacturerYamaha failed to win a single Grand Prix for the first time since2003.[4]
Starting the European leg of the season inSpain, Brad Binder took the sprint victory head of Francesco Bagnaia, while Bagnaia won the main race ahead of Binder. Both racing sessions were affected byred flags, and KTM riderJack Miller closed out both podiums.[7] TheFrench round marked the 1000th motorcycle Grand Prix since the series began in1949. In the sprint, Jorge Martín took his first victory of the season, while Bezzecchi emerged as winner of the main race, followed by Martín and his teammateJohann Zarco. AtMugello, Bagnaia took his second weekend sweep of the season in front of the home crowd, winning both the sprint and main race.[8] InGermany, Jorge Martín took his first weekend sweep, winning both the sprint and main race after several close duels with Bagnaia.[9] At theAssen TT, Bezzecchi took pole position and victory in the sprint, before relinquishing the main race win to Bagnaia, finishing second.[10] Heading into the summer break, Bagnaia led the championship with 194 points ahead of Martín on 159 and Bezzecchi on 158.[11]
Returning to action inBritain, Marco Bezzecchi took his second consecutive pole position, but dropped the sprint win toÁlex Márquez, while Francesco Bagnaia failed to score points.Aleix Espargaró took his first win of the season in the main race ahead of Bagnaia, while Bezzecchi crashed out.[12] InAustria, Bagnaia took his third weekend sweep of the season, finishing the main race in dominant fashion 5.1 seconds ahead of Brad Binder, with Bezzecchi taking third. With this result, Bagnaia held a 90-point lead over Jorge Martín at the midpoint of the season.[13]
InCatalunya,Aprilia's Aleix Espargaró swept his home Grand Prix weekend with a sprint win ahead of Bagnaia and a main race win ahead of teammateMaverick Viñales and Jorge Martín. The main race was a disaster forDucati, who saw five riders crash in a single first-lap incident (Álex Márquez,Enea Bastianini, Marco Bezzecchi,Fabio Di Giannantonio and Johann Zarco) followed a few corners later by a crash for championship leader Francesco Bagnaia. His legs were run over by Brad Binder's KTM, a resulting minor injury ruled him out of restarting the race and would have further implications for the championship.[14] At the final race of the European leg inMisano, Martín completed a perfect weekend, taking pole position and victory in the sprint and main race, both times ahead of Bezzecchi and Bagnaia.[15]
At the inauguralIndian Grand Prix, Jorge Martín won a rain-delayed sprint followed by Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Márquez. In the main race, Bagnaia crashed out after being involved in a duel with Martín, and Marco Bezzecchi took his third and final victory of the season, over 9 seconds ahead of Martín and Fabio Quartararo. With this result, Martín had reduce the championship gap to 13 points with seven races remaining.[16] At theJapanese round, Jorge Martín again had a perfect weekend, taking pole position and winning the sprint and main race. The main race wasred-flagged due to adverse weather conditions on lap 13 of 24. A restart was abandoned by race direction after the race was again red-flagged during the warm-up lap of the restarted race. Per regulations, full points were awarded since at least 50% of the original race distance were completed.[17]
InIndonesia, Jorge Martín won his third consecutive sprint, ahead of Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi, securingDucati its fourth straight Constructors' Championship.[18] With his victory in the sprint, Martín took over the lead of the standings for the first time in the season by 7 points.[19] In the main race, Francesco Bagnaia quickly returned to the top of the standings, after winning from 13th position on the grid and Martín crashing out.[20] The race marked the 500th Grand Prix victory for tyre marqueMichelin, whose first victory was in1973 withJack Findlay.[21] OnPhillip Island, heavy wind conditions caused a weekend schedule change, with the main race taking place on Saturday and the sprint on Sunday, weather permitting.[22] In the main race, Johann Zarco took his maiden win in MotoGP, ahead of Bagnaia and Fabio Di Giannantonio. The sprint was cancelled due to inclement weather.[23] At theThai round, Jorge Martín had his third perfect weekend of the year, with pole position and sprint and main race wins.[24] InMalaysia, Álex Márquez won the sprint ahead of Martín and Bagnaia, while Enea Bastianini took his first win of the season ahead of Márquez and Bagnaia.[25]
At the penultimate round inQatar, Luca Marini secured his second career pole position with an all-time lap record at the track.[26] Jorge Martín took the win at the sprint race, while Francesco Bagnaia only managed 5th place.[27] In the main race, Fabio Di Giannantonio took his maiden MotoGP win ahead of Bagnaia and Marini, while Martín struggled to a 10th-place finish.[28] The final round atValencia saw Martín win his ninth sprint race of the season, cutting the championship gap to 14 points for the finale race. Martin crashed out of the main race while attempting to recover from an early mistake,[29] while Bagnaia took the race victory, sealing his second consecutive MotoGP world title.[30]
Pol Espargaró missed seven consecutive Grands Prix starting from the Argentine round after suffering numerous injuries during Practice 2 of the Portuguese round.[79][80] He was not replaced for the Argentine round, but was replaced starting from the Americas round byJonas Folger.[63]
Enea Bastianini missed several races during the season. He missed the Argentine and Americas rounds after suffering a fractured right scapula due to a collision withLuca Marini in the sprint of the Portuguese round.[81] He was not replaced for the Argentine round, and was replaced for the Americas round byMichele Pirro.[40] Bastianini also missed the French round after a failed return in the Spanish round which saw him withdraw from the race after Practice 2 due to continuous shoulder pain. He was replaced byDanilo Petrucci.[41] Bastianini also missed the San Marino, Indian, and Japanese rounds after undergoing surgery on his fractured left ankle and left hand that were sustained during the Catalan race.[82] He was not replaced for the San Marino round, and by Pirro again for the Indian and Japanese rounds.[83]
Marc Márquez missed the Argentine, Americas, and Spanish rounds after suffering a brokenfirst metacarpal due to a collision withMiguel Oliveira during the main race of the Portuguese round.[84] He was not replaced for the Argentine round, replaced byStefan Bradl for the Americas round,[85][58] and was replaced byIker Lecuona for the Spanish round.[59]
Miguel Oliveira missed several races during the season. He missed the Argentine round due to the aforementioned collision with Márquez during the main race of the previous Portuguese round. Oliveira was declared unfit after further testing and was not replaced.[86] He also missed the French round after he sustained a shoulder injury after a collision withFabio Quartararo during the previous Spanish round and was replaced byLorenzo Savadori.[35] He also missed the Valencian round after suffering a fractured scapula during the sprint of the Qatar round, and was replaced by Savadori again.[36]
Joan Mir missed the German and Dutch rounds after suffering a right hand injury during Practice 2 of the previous Italian round.[87] He was not replaced for the German round, but was replaced by Iker Lecuona for the Dutch round.[56]
Álex Rins missed seven consecutive Grands Prix starting from the German round after undergoing surgery on a broken right leg that was sustained during the sprint of the Italian round.[88] He was not replaced for the German round, by Stefan Bradl for the Dutch and Indian rounds,[51][89] by Iker Lecuona for the British, Austrian, and Catalan rounds,[52] and byTakumi Takahashi for the San Marino round.[54] Rins competed during Friday practice sessions for the Japanese round, before being replaced by Bradl after he was declared unfit for the rest of the weekend. Rins also missed the Thailand, Malaysian, and Qatar rounds after having surgery on a hernia on his leg previously broken during the Italian round.[90] He was not replaced for the Thailand round, and by Lecuona again for the Malaysian and Qatar rounds.[53]
Álex Márquez missed the Japanese round after suffering a double rib fracture during Qualifying 1 of the previous Indian round.[91] He was not replaced.
Luca Marini missed the Japanese round after suffering a fractured left collarbone during the sprint of the previous Indian round.[92] He was not replaced.
Sprint races were introduced at all Grands Prix. Sprints were held on the Saturday of each Grand Prix weekend and were approximately 50% of the total race distance. Points were awarded to the top 9 finishers on a 12–9–7–6–5–4–3–2–1 basis, similar to the system used inSuperbike World Championship Superpole races. The grids for both the Sprint race and the Grand Prix race were set from qualifying, which retained its Q1–Q2 format. There was also one less practice session and the warm-up session as a result.[1][2] Sprint race wins are not considered as regular Grands Prix wins and instead would have their own "Sprint race wins" statistic.[93]
The weekend format was fixed for every event. Moto3 were followed by Moto2, followed by MotoGP.[1]
Minimum tyre pressure rules were enforced.[94] The use of any device that modifies or adjusts the motorcycle's front ride height while it is moving was forbidden.[95]
Starting from the British round, only the results of the second practice session of each Friday, which is now simply called "Practice", were timed for direct qualification into Qualifying 2. The first practice session on Fridays and the practice session on Saturday were now called "Free Practice 1" and "Free Practice 2", respectively, and the results from both sessions would not be considered for direct Q2 classification.[96]
For the first time since 2006,Lusail inQatar did not host the opening round due to "extensive renovation and remodelling to the paddock area and circuit facilities".[119]
TheHungarian Grand Prix was scheduled to make its debut in 2023 but was postponed until at least 2024 due to the unstarted construction ofthe circuit.[121]
TheAragon Grand Prix was omitted from the schedule for the first time since its introduction in 2010.[97]
^abcdefgThe sprint at the Australian Grand Prix was cancelled due to inclement weather.[122]
^Maverick Viñales, who set the fastest time in qualifying and started the sprint on pole, received a three-place grid penalty for the main race for not respecting theblack flag with orange circle during the warm up practice.[123] As a result,Francesco Bagnaia started the race from pole position, although Viñales was still credited with the pole position statistic.
Grande Prémio Tissot de Portugal
Gran Premio Michelin de la República Argentina
Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas
Gran Premio MotoGP Guru by Gryfyn de España
Shark Grand Prix de France
Gran Premio d'Italia Oakley
Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland
Motul TT Assen
Monster Energy British Grand Prix
CryptoData Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich
Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya
Gran Premio Red Bull di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini
IndianOil Grand Prix of India
Motul Grand Prix of Japan
Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia
MotoGP Guru by Gryfyn Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix
OR Thailand Grand Prix
Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia
Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar
Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana
Kazakhstan motorcycle Grand Prix
: scheduled Grand Prix
: cancelled Grand Prix)
LCR Honda Castrol
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