The 2023 MotoGP season proved to be one of the vital aggressive campaigns for the sequence, because the championship battle between Ducati duo Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin raged till the ultimate race of an historic marketing campaign that additionally noticed sprints launched for the primary time.
Bagnaia finally received out by 39 factors to attain his second championship, capping off a banner 12 months for Ducati through which it received a file 17 GPs throughout six of its eight riders, achieved 43 whole podiums and eight rostrum lockouts.
There have been standout performances elsewhere, with Aprilia profitable twice with Aleix Espargaro and Honda scoring a sole victory in a depressing marketing campaign courtesy of Alex Rins. New winners emerged too, whereas others put in commendable performances with out ever attending to the highest step of the rostrum.
To resolve who we contemplate the ten greatest rider of the 2023 MotoGP season, we’ve taken outcomes under consideration but in addition outcomes relative to equipment at their disposal. Additionally included are how they fared compared to final 12 months’s prime 10 rating.
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A stable season earned Marini a manufacturing unit Honda deal for 2024
Workforce: VR46 Ducati
Greatest GP outcome: 2nd (America)
Greatest dash outcome: 2nd (Indonesia)
Complete podiums: 6
Greatest qualifying: 1st (Indonesia, Qatar)
Championship: eighth (201 factors)
Marini ended 2023 as certainly one of solely two Ducati riders to not win a grand prix, however did firmly mark himself out as extra than simply Valentino Rossi’s half-brother. A second in Austin was his greatest Sunday outcome, however his podiums had been too few and much between for a third-year rider on the grid’s greatest bike.
A two-race damage lay-off attributable to a collarbone break of his personal making, after he slammed into VR46 team-mate Marco Bezzecchi on the opening lap of the Indian GP dash, definitely stopped him from reaching extra within the second half of the season – having felt like he’d made a serious step in understanding the bike on the Misano take a look at in September.
He earned his manufacturing unit Honda deal for 2024 and a stable bunch of outcomes from 2023 will act as a very good start line.
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Alex Marquez took two dash wins in his first season with Gresini
Workforce: Gresini Ducati
Greatest GP outcome: 2nd (Malaysia)
Greatest dash outcome: 1st (Britain, Malaysia)
Complete podiums: 4
Greatest qualifying: 1st (Argentina)
Championship: ninth (177 factors)
After a stable maiden marketing campaign with the manufacturing unit Honda squad in 2020, through which he scored HRC’s solely podiums that 12 months, the next two years with LCR proved to be a little bit of a slog for the 2019 Moto2 world champion.
Seizing the chance of aggressive equipment at Gresini with a 2022-spec Ducati, 27-year-old Marquez was a constant prime 10 finisher on Sundays with a brace of podiums.
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Within the sprints, he managed two victories, proving he has race-winning potential on the Ducati. Given his total MotoGP expertise relative to these round him within the Ducati secure, Marquez’s lack of grand prix victory is disappointing.
However with a 12 months of expertise on the bike beneath his belt, and clear indicators of promise proven in 2023, Marquez ought to have the ability to take that closing step to attending to the highest of the rostrum – although, together with his brother Marc on equal equipment in 2024, that process has gotten lots tougher.
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Di Giannantonio turned MotoGP’s latest winner in Qatar
Workforce: Gresini Ducati
Greatest GP outcome: 1st (Qatar)
Greatest dash outcome: 2nd (Qatar)
Complete podiums: 3
Greatest qualifying: 2nd (Qatar)
Championship: twelfth (151 factors)
Scoring simply 53 factors within the first 14 rounds of the 2023 season, Di Giannantonio’s turnaround in kind from Japan to the tip of the season to attain 108 factors vaulted him upwards in many individuals’s estimations and finally saved his MotoGP profession.
Having not cracked the highest six in a grand prix in any respect in MotoGP since his debut in 2022, Di Giannantonio was fourth in Indonesia earlier than ending third in Australia. In Qatar, the whole lot got here collectively for him to attain his first victory. He did end second in Valencia, however a tyre strain penalty post-race dropped him to fourth.
The turnaround in kind seemed sudden, however was the mix of exhausting work all 12 months with crew chief Frankie Carchedi to get the Ducati set as much as Di Giannantonio’s liking. In accordance with the crew chief, in these final seven rounds, they barely touched his bike having made the important thing breakthrough.
Although considerably lucky that the state of affairs with Marc Marquez (which pressured him out of Gresini) led to the VR46 alternative for 2024 rising, Di Giannantonio’s finish to 2023 proved he deserved one other 12 months. However it is going to be important that he carries this momentum into the beginning of 2024 and keep it all through.
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Zarco lastly broke his win duck after 120 occasions of attempting
Workforce: Pramac Ducati
Greatest GP outcome: 1st (Australia)
Greatest dash outcome: 4th (Italy, Britain)
Complete podiums: 6
Greatest qualifying: 2nd (Valencia)
Championship: fifth (225 factors)
Johann Zarco’s agonising look forward to a maiden MotoGP win lastly got here to an finish in 2023, when he took to the highest step of the rostrum in a dramatic Australian Grand Prix.
It was unquestionably the spotlight of a combined season for the Pramac Ducati rider. A constant first half of the 12 months, with 4 podiums inside seven rounds, was stable sufficient for Honda to supply him a two-year contract to hitch LCR in 2024.
A lacklustre second half stunted his hopes of beating Binder to fourth within the standings and stored him from sitting larger on our prime 10 checklist: using the manufacturing unit Ducati he had, an absolute minimal requirement should be weekly podiums.
Whereas his strengths lay in the way in which he sorted his tyres and will rally within the second half of races – which contributed massively to his Australia victory – the lacking explosiveness within the early laps was highlighted by his lack of dash podiums (the one rider on this checklist to not have taken a half-distance race podium).
6. Aleix Espargaro (Down 1)
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Espargaro doubled his win tally from 2022, however constant robust outcomes had been fewer
Workforce: Aprilia
Greatest GP outcome: 1st (Britain, Catalunya)
Greatest dash outcome: 1st (Catalunya)
Complete podiums: 4
Greatest qualifying: 1st (Spain)
Championship: sixth (206 factors)
Having fought for the championship in a 2022 season of stable consistency that yielded a maiden grand prix victory, lots was anticipated of Aleix Espargaro and Aprilia in 2023.
However issues by no means actually acquired going for the Spaniard. It might take till the Dutch GP for him to get his first podium of the 12 months, which was a gifted third within the Sunday race attributable to a observe limits penalty for Brad Binder.
When the paddock reconvened at Silverstone after the summer season break, he brilliantly beat Francesco Bagnaia on the final lap of the British GP to attain victory and led a primary ever Aprilia 1-2 on the Catalan GP a number of weeks later.
That might be the final podium for Espargaro, who took benefit of the Aprilia’s agility and robust traction at Silverstone and Catalunya to most impact. The RS-GP’s sluggish begins within the first a part of the season, then mechanical points and damage in a while within the second half conspired in opposition to Espargaro.
He maintained his 100% file of outscoring each Aprilia team-mate since becoming a member of the marque in 2017, however solely by two factors. Going into the winter now pondering 2024 will not be his final season in MotoGP, the 34-year-old must match his 2022 consistency to total efficiency positive factors he made in 2023.
5. Marco Bezzecchi (Up 4)
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Bezzecchi received three grands prix on his technique to third within the standings
Workforce: VR46 Ducati
Greatest GP outcome: 1st (Argentina, France, India)
Greatest dash outcome: 1st (Netherlands)
Complete podiums: 13
Greatest qualifying: 1st (Netherlands, Britain, India)
Championship: third (329 factors)
The 2023 season was a breakout 12 months for Bezzecchi in his sophomore season within the premier class. Having already surprised with flashes of pace in his maiden marketing campaign in 2022, the Italian took a serious stride by scoring three grand prix victories, all of them devastatingly delivered.
Within the moist of Argentina, he was 4.085s away from second; in France, he was 4.256s up the street; and in India, he was 8.649s forward of the remainder.
When Bezzecchi was good, he was completely good. And that’s what stored him in title rivalry, albeit as an outsider, till the third-from-last spherical of the season.
His Saturday kind was stable, qualifying exterior of the highest 12 solely as soon as, whereas 5 dash rostrums – together with a win at Assen – ensured a gradual stream of factors. However consistency wasn’t all the time on Bezzecchi’s aspect, with nice weekends usually adopted up by common ones. A number of damage issues, together with a damaged collarbone throughout coaching forward of the Indonesian GP, didn’t assist his trigger.
On year-old Ducati equipment, Bezzecchi confirmed he was genuinely frontrunning class in MotoGP. Electing to stick with the VR46 crew on a year-old for 2024 ought to enable him to enhance the consistency that eluded him at occasions final season.
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Quartararo suffered his first winless season since 2019, however constantly outperformed his equipment in 2023
Workforce: Yamaha
Greatest GP outcome: third (America, India, Indonesia)
Greatest dash outcome: third (Netherlands)
Complete podiums: 4
Greatest qualifying: 4th (Netherlands, Indonesia)
Championship: tenth (172 factors)
From the lofty heights of the world championship in 2021, to narrowly lacking out final 12 months on inferior equipment, 2023 marked a low level in Fabio Quartararo’s profession in MotoGP.
The Yamaha’s lack of pace and lack of efficiency by the corners, because it appeared to make little in the way in which of positive factors relative to its rivals, meant neither Quartararo nor team-mate Franco Morbidelli may get to the highest step of the rostrum in 2023.
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Marking Yamaha’s first winless season in MotoGP in 20 years, Quartararo was understandably annoyed within the first a part of the 12 months – “smug” was the phrase he would later use. One grand prix podium in America and a lucky dash third at Assen (courtesy of Binder’s observe limits penalty) was all Quartararo may muster within the first half of the 12 months.
A shift to accepting his state of affairs and easily pushing the Yamaha for all it was value delivered him two extra grand prix podiums at friendlier venues in India and Indonesia for the M1.
Ending the 12 months 70 factors away from Morbidelli, on the one different Yamaha on the grid, Quartararo proved himself invaluable to a Japanese marque that’s susceptible to shedding him in 2025 if it doesn’t utilise the concessions it’s going to have at its disposal in 2024 to construct him a race-winning bundle once more.
3. Brad Binder (Up 4)
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Binder did not get the grand prix win he wished, however was class of the KTM crop in 2023
Workforce: KTM
Greatest GP outcome: 2nd (Spain, Austria)
Greatest dash outcome: 1st (Argentina, Spain)
Complete podiums: 12
Greatest qualifying: 2nd (Australia)
Championship: 4th (293 factors)
Binder’s look forward to a 3rd grand prix victory goes on into 2024, however he did come agonisingly shut on a number of of events in 2023 as KTM made positive factors – however not sufficient to get on phrases with Ducati.
The South African is to KTM what Marc Marquez is to Honda and Fabio Quartararo to Yamaha – a minimize above the remainder of a very good secure, wringing absolutely the most out of his bundle each weekend. Testomony to that’s he ended 2023 some 130 factors away from the next-best KTM rider, Jack Miller.
Binder proved a match for Francesco Bagnaia within the Spanish GP, lacking out by simply 0.221s in second. In Thailand he got here inside 0.114s of beating race winner Jorge Martin, solely to be demoted to 3rd for a observe limits violation on the ultimate lap. And within the Valencia finale he seemed in fine condition to finish a grand prix win drought relationship again to Austria 2021 earlier than a late error dropped him to fourth (which might be remodeled into third within the stewards room, following a penalty for Di Giannantonio in second). A brace of podiums at Assen went strolling thanks to trace limits penalties.
Binder did come away with a brace of dash wins: brilliantly from fifteenth on the grid in Argentina, the place he vaulted to the lead on lap three, after which in Spain whereas keeping off Bagnaia. Constant top-six kind all 12 months helped him to his greatest championship results of fourth.
The RC16 made its greatest step in its seven seasons in MotoGP in 2023, whereas a late-season swap to its new carbon fibre chassis helped enhance some key weak areas. If it may possibly proceed its upward pattern, Binder once more proved he’s greater than able to being a weekly menace when the bike is prepared.
2. Jorge Martin (Re-entry)
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Martin fought exhausting for the title, however essential errors denied him on the finish
Workforce: Pramac Ducati
Greatest GP outcome: 1st (Germany, San Marino, Japan, Thailand)
Greatest dash outcome: 1st (France, Germany, San Marino, India, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Qatar, Valencia)
Complete podiums: 22
Greatest qualifying: 1st (San Marino, Japan, Indonesia, Australia)
Championship: 2nd (428)
After the primary few rounds of 2023, Jorge Martin was threatening to turn out to be one thing of a nearly-man in MotoGP. His very good rookie 12 months in 2021 proved exhausting to construct on in 2022 because of the Ducati engine he needed to race being rather more aggressive than it had been beforehand.
Whereas he felt rather more relaxed on the 2023 Ducati and took dash podiums in Portugal and Austin, he needed to wait till the French GP dash for a win earlier than ending the Sunday race second. It wouldn’t be till the German GP that he took to the highest step of the rostrum on a Sunday once more.
Right here provided a glimpse of the rivalry that may comply with, having overwhelmed Bagnaia in a head-to-head duel. Three lacklustre GPs at Assen, Silverstone and Crimson Bull Ring adopted, leaving him 66 factors behind Bagnaia after the Barcelona dash.
However when Bagnaia had his incident, Martin stepped up a gear. Third within the Catalan GP gave technique to a double at Misano to place him firmly into title rivalry. He ended the 12 months with 9 dash wins – the undisputed king of Saturday – and 4 GP victories, preserving the title battle going to the wire, as he emerged with out query because the quickest rider within the second a part of the season.
Nonetheless, two essential errors in Indonesia – when he crashed out of the lead of the GP having taken a seven-point lead within the standings after the dash – and sliding to fifth in Australia attributable to a tyre alternative backfiring tripped him up. The Qatar tyre fault was unlucky, however it may have been softened by Indonesia and Australia understanding higher.
His tangle with Marc Marquez within the Valencia GP, having run off chasing Bagnaia when he acquired sucked into his slipstream, ended his hopes of claiming the crown. However in actuality, it was essential errors at essential moments that actually derailed him.
That is all a part of the educational course of, although. Tidying this up in 2024 and allying it to the uncooked pace he clearly has will make him a fair harder opponent for Bagnaia.
1. Francesco Bagnaia (No change)
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Nonetheless made too many errors, however his greatest was higher than ever in 2023
Workforce: Ducati
Greatest GP outcome: 1st (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Austria, Indonesia, Valencia)
Greatest dash outcome: 1st (Portugal, America, Italy, Austria)
Complete podiums: 28
Greatest qualifying: 1st (America, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Malaysia, Valencia)
Championship: 1st (467 factors)
Francesco Bagnaia’s first championship-winning season noticed him commit too many errors within the first half of the 12 months. And whereas his fightback from being 91 factors adrift of Quartararo was heroic, it was helped in no small half by the Yamaha being a a lot weaker bike than the Ducati.
In 2023, he couldn’t do the identical factor if he hoped to win the title once more, not least as a result of his important menace was more likely to come from throughout the Ducati secure.
An ideal begin in Portugal gave technique to crashes whereas operating second in Argentina and main in America – the latter he blamed on the time on the GP23 being too secure. A 3rd non-score got here by the hands of Maverick Vinales in France, whereas in India later within the season he slid out of the rostrum locations of his personal accord.
Maybe making too many errors for a world champion, when he rebounded, he did so emphatically. Seven GP wins throughout the season, together with three dash/GP doubles, stored him in play even when his Saturday kind went from strongest of the sphere within the first half of the 12 months to inflicting him points within the second.
A few of that might be attributed to the leg damage he suffered in his horrifying incident in Barcelona, the place he had his leg run over by Binder. However even after he’d recovered, his Saturday kind nonetheless lacked in comparison with title rival Martin as – at occasions – his robust front-end feeling disappeared.
Nonetheless, it was this capability to show issues round and the way in which he managed the championship finale – qualifying second (after which being promoted to pole attributable to a penalty for Vinales), guaranteeing he did sufficient when he struggled within the dash to fifth, and profitable the GP as Martin imploded – that spotlighted his champion’s credentials.
Hopes of a 3rd title in 2024 will relaxation on him as soon as extra matching up his robust Sunday kind to the Saturday tempo he had within the first half of the season and sustaining it all through.
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Photographs
Bagnaia delivered Ducati’s second title on the trot in a marketing campaign that was in some ways a reverse of 2022
