Image: Supplied.

Ducati Lenovo Team’s Francesco Bagnaia has been crowned the 2022 MotoGP World champion following the season’s final round at Valencia, as Alex Rins gave Suzuki a dream send-off while Augusto Fernandez clinched the Moto2 World title and Izan Guevara stood tall in Moto3.

It was a clinical performance by Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) at round 20 who launched from P5 on the grid to lead every lap en route to Suzuki’s final victory in the premier class.

A hard-charging Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) moved his way forward from seventh to catch the leading group, ultimately missing out on the win by just 0.396s. Pole-setter Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) completed the podium after losing out to Binder on the penultimate lap.

In fourth was Monster Energy Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, delivering a valiant effort in a last bid for the title, however, aggression in the early stages of the race proved costly as it left him with time to recover to the leading group.

Completing the top five was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Miguel Oliveira, ahead of Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing) who secured P3 in the championship after Aprilia Racing’s Aleix Espargaro retired from the race in the early stages.

Ninth was enough for Bagnaia to wrap up the title and conclude what was a remarkable comeback throughout the season, as Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha) rounded out the top 10.

Unfortunately, Jack Miller missed out on a fairy-tale ending with the Ducati Lenovo Team when he crashed out of podium contention on lap 22, and fellow Australian Remy Gardner (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) crossed the line in 13th to conclude his stint in the MotoGP World Championship. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) fell from the leading group after retiring from the race with 18 laps remaining.

Image: Supplied.

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Fernandez clinched the intermediate class crown with a P2 finish, behind teammate Pedro Acosta at Valencia as title-rival Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) crashed out of contention.

Ogura was running second when he fell on lap eight, as Acosta moved to lead on lap 13 to ultimately take victory number three in his rookie Moto2 season.

Fernandez crossed the line 1.2s adrift, as Elf Marc VDS Racing’s Tony Arbolino completed the top three after leading the opening laps of the race.

Impressive Australian fill-in Senna Agius (Elf Marc VDS Racing) achieved his best result in the world championship to date with P9. Despite a DNF in the last round, Aron Canet was able to finish third in the Moto2 title race.

Moto3 World champion Izan Guevara (Valresa GasGas Aspar Team) ended his season in the best possible way, taking a slim 0.062s victory ahead of Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Deniz Oncu (Red Bull KTM Tech3).

Sergio Garcia (Valresa GasGas Aspar Team) finished a relatively lonely third, 6.557s from victory and over five seconds clear of the chasing group behind. Australia’s Joel Kelso (CIP Green Power) completed the bout in 21st.

In the 2022 Moto3 World Championship standings, Garcia finished runner-up on 257 points with Honda-mounted Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) completing the top three on 246.

Valencia also marked the final round of the 2022 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, with Harrison Voight notching 10-8 results while Jacob Roulstone went 16-15.

Detailed results