2021 is finished. As of Sunday, MotoGP has wrapped up for the year. All the titles have been decided, all the trophies awarded, all the storylines come to a close. It has certainly been an odd season, though not nearly as odd as the one that preceded it, and the paddock can finally begin looking towards 2022. The Jerez test in a couple of days will kick-start the new season, and then we simply wait for more tests and more coverage until the next racing year begins in March.
It’s strange to already be looking ahead so many months when the final race only just happened, but this is the way of the world championship at present. Riders have to start mentally preparing for the next season because contract talks will start pretty much the second we kick of in Qatar. Managers and engineers need to start working on the development of future bikes, especially now that the covid-based engine freeze has been lifted. There simply isn’t any time to rest when another world championship is visible on the horizon, and especially not when you haven’t secured your future within the class.
It’s also hard to look back on the weekend we just witnessed because it was so heavy with emotion. The whole world said goodbye to Valentino Rossi in Valencia, his 26 year career on the world stage finally coming to a close. It was an incredible day to witness, as fellow sportspeople, ex-rivals and celebrities alike all paid homage to the massive impact Vale has had on MotoGP and motorcycle racing as a whole. The grandstands were packed out to watch his final show, and boy did he put on a show.
After a season that saw some of his most consistently disappointing results, Valentino fought valiantly for tenth place, six vital points that many believed he wasn’t capable of. The motivation that appeared to have left him this year was finally back, and the Italian veteran was seen defending hard against a slew of young riders looking to upstage him on his final performance. It wasn’t the grand departure that some of his fans clearly hoped for – the people on social media begging riders to slow down on the final lap and gift him a last win were clearly dreaming – but it certainly felt more right than the lacklustre appearances we’ve seen lately from the Doctor.
All in all, I’m honestly glad to see Valentino go out in this way. There’s an argument that his retirement came a year or two later than it probably should have, and it has been hard to see someone of his stature struggling so much in the last two seasons, but he did manage to impress us all one final time. I don’t think the world will remember him for his final years in the MotoGP class. How could we, when even as he bowed out we were reminded so viscerally of the massive achievements he brought about. Wins and championships aside, it will be a long time before we see another rider bring so much to the world of motorsports, and for that we must be grateful.
As for the actual race, the one happening ahead of Rossi, it was an interesting but predictable affair. As I have pointed out previously, Valencia is not exactly the most engaging circuit, and tends to lead to a lot of stagnant racing where riders form a procession. Especially with motorcycles the size of these MotoGP weapons, the layout just doesn’t seem to favour interesting racing, though there will always be moments of excitement in modern day MotoGP. All told, Sunday’s race did back up my thoughts fairly succinctly.
Bagnaia came out victorious once again, something he has become rather good at in the last few months. While some riders reach the premier class and immediately spring to success, Bagnaia has clearly spent his first few seasons developing his skills and honing his technique on the Ducati he now wields so easily. The Italian is fast and consistent, able to qualify on the front row with ease and ride his races smarter than his opponents. I don’t think there’s a single rider on the grid who doesn’t see him as a major championship threat for next season.
He was joined on a historic podium by Martin and Miller, marking the first time Ducati have ever managed to lock out a MotoGP podium. The second half of this season has felt like Ducati finally reaping the rewards of their labours over the past decade or so, and it’s been thoroughly enjoyable to watch. When Dall’Igna was brought on to bring them to a world championship, I truly wonder if they pictured the future domination they have managed to put together this year. The bikes are fast, yes, but they also have few to no weaknesses any more, and the riders they’ve signed are all doing incredible work with them.
Ducati are clearly the best-set manufacturer heading into the Winter break, and it’s not particularly close. Suzuki are still missing single lap pace and the ability to qualify well. Yamaha and Honda are puzzling over how to build a bike that suits more than one rider. KTM need to figure out why their bike is unbeatable one weekend and troubled the next, and Aprilia still haven’t found their ideal competitive bike or the riders to win with. Compare this with Ducati, who are qualifying incredibly every week and converting into strong podium finishes, and the thought of having 8 Desmosedici’s on the grid next year is rather worrying indeed.
The only riders who actually looked capable of stopping the Ducati procession were the Suzukis, but both riders fell short. Mir tried desperately to hang onto a podium place in the later stages of the race but simply couldn’t stop the red machines on the start/finish straight. Rins had perhaps the most disappointing race of anyone, crashing out while in the hunt for a podium place for what feels like the tenth time this season. The exact nature of his problems this year are unclear, but the situation is pretty easy to read from here. If Rins can’t find some consistency in 2022, it will be extremely difficult for him to retain a spot in his beloved factory Suzuki team.
It was a fairly quiet race for our world champion. Quartararo started from the third row, made up a couple of positions, nearly chased down Mir and ended the race in fifth. While some have called his performance out as being disappointing given his status as newly crowned king of MotoGP, I honestly thought it was solid work given his previous performances here. Valencia marks the point in the 2020 campaign where Fabio’s title hopes evaporated, crashing out of both races and handing the championship to Mir in the process. Simply seeing him cross the line and take a chunk of points was a welcome relief.
The problem that Quartararo may face moving forward is that he won’t be starting the 2022 season as the favourite. Bagnaia has been superb in the last six races, and while Quartararo has managed to do enough to seal the deal on his first championship crown it certainly wasn’t on par with the Italian. Fabio would have wanted to end the season as the top dog and leave everyone concerned over his potential to double up next year, but instead it seems that Bagnaia is the one with all the expectations on his shoulders. Add the likes of Marc Marquez, Mir, Miller and even Morbidelli into the mix, and it could be an incredibly exciting season ahead of us.
Not only was it the final race for Rossi, but we also said farewell to both of the Tech3 KTM riders. Petrucci completed a decade in the sport with a tearful farewell, the Italian receiving high praise for his efforts from everyone in the paddock. His teammate Lecuona was concluding a much shorter stint in the premier class, but his time in the world of motorcycle racing does not come to a close here. Iker will be riding in the WSBK class from 2022 onwards, and there is some hope within the paddock that he will soon return to the MotoGP grid for a second attempt at glory. It is sad to see both of them go, one having had an incredible career and one having just begun, and they will both be sorely missed.
There were actually a huge number of riders bidding farewell this weekend when you consider the junior and intermediate classes. While Moto2’s Tom Luthi was the name most frequently mentioned, there are plenty of other riders without a seat for 2022 there or in the Moto3 category, which is both interesting and rather confusing. Perusing the current lineup for both classes, it appears we will be seeing upwards of ten rookies in each, or roughly a third of the respective fields. I have a hunch that this is a continuation of the trend we’ve seen ever since Marc Marquez became a breakout star in MotoGP where every team feels they need to be on the hunt for the next young superstar, and the sad truth is that it simply overlooks a lot of good talent already existing in the paddock. I have a lot of thoughts on this, so expect to see a full article about it in the future, but for now I just hope the mass of rookies doesn’t lead to a mass of bad crashes and tough articles in the future.
Additionally, as an Australian fan, I have to take a moment to talk about Remy Gardner’s clinching of the Moto2 crown on Sunday. I’ve been watching Remy grow and mature as a rider for a great many seasons now, and it feels like he has finally been able to prove what he’s capable of in 2021. With a strong team and a good bit of form heading into the year, Remy has been the epitome of consistency all year, and is incredibly deserving of being champion. Not to discount what his teammate produced this year – Raul Fernandez had a better rookie season than even Marc Marquez did, which should worry the current MotoGP grid quite a bit – but I think it was really special for Remy to take the crown after so many difficult years. I think all of Australia was behind him on Sunday, and it was a special moment for everyone watching from home.
And so the championship comes to a close. There is immediate excitement coming up in the form of the Jerez test, where we will get to see some new 2022 bikes in action for the first time, but other than that the world of MotoGP should get a bit quieter for a few months. Thankfully, for those of us who simply live for the sounds of those engines running, 2022 is so close we can practically touch it, and that is a very exciting prospect indeed.
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