MotoGP, Saturday king Martin and match-point in the Sprint at Barcelona: the combinations

With only one more Grand Prix to go and a 24-point lead, Jorge Martin virtually has the world title in his pocket. The Spaniard of the Pramac team in Sepang, with his victory on Saturday with Bagnaia down and 2nd place on Sunday behind Pecco, has built a wall that is difficult for his opponent to get over, indeed the only rider who can break it down would be himself. The 37 points still up for grabs give the reigning world champion some hope, but it is very faint.

Weighing on Bagnaia's ranking are the Sprints, so much so that he declared between the serious and the facetious, "I would gladly sign to abolish them." The summary of his season was, "Shitty Saturday, but I love Sunday." The numbers prove him right, because if we only count the results in GPs Pecco would be ahead by the same points he is now lacking: 24. In fact, the rider from Piedmont has picked up 345 on Sundays, compared to Jorge's 321.

Where Martin made the difference was in the short races where, despite the score being halved, he brought home 48 more points than his opponent (164 against 116). Not so much in victories (Jorge won 7 times on Saturday, Pecco 6), but in consistency: the Spaniard has an impressive 15 podiums in the Sprints and failed to score points only once, the Italian 9 podiums and failed to score points 5 times.

"I don 't know why, but on Saturday I never have the feelings on the bike that I have on Sunday," Bagnaia explained, "You can't attack, can't stay glued to those ahead of me. Yet the only thing that changes on the bike is the tank, smaller by regulation (it has reduced capacity from 22 to 12 liters, ed.), maybe it's the weight distribution."

The fact remains that Saturday is when Bagnaia has suffered the most and, ironically, the day when Martin could be crowned champion. At Barcelona, in fact, Jorge will have the first match-point in the short race. The following are the combinations.

Martin champion in the Sprint at Barcelona if he...

- Wins
- Finishes 2nd with Bagnaia 3rd or worse
- Finishes 3rd with Bagnaia 5th or worse
- Finishes 4th with Bagnaia 6th or worse
- Finishes 5th with Bagnaia 7th or worse
- Finishes 6th with Bagnaia 8th or worse
- Finishes 8th with Bagnaia 10th or worse