One reason to root for every MotoGP rider on the 2024 grid

MotoGP enjoyed one of its greatest title fights in the series’ 74-year history in 2023, with Ducati Lenovo’s Pecco Bagnaia emerging victorious over Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martín on the final day of the season in Valencia to win his second straight world championship. And the motorsport world took notice, with the two-wheeled equivalent to Formula One boasting record attendance over the course of the campaign.

Despite a reasonably quiet offseason, MotoGP is primed to make even more noise in 2024. One of the greatest of all time, Marc Márquez, left the only team he’s ever known in Repsol Honda for a chance to ride the all-conquering Ducati Desmosedici, intensifying this year’s title fight before a single lap has been turned in anger. Nineteen-year-old Pedro Acosta moves up to the premier class as the most heralded rookie in more than a decade — since Márquez himself came to the series and claimed the championship in his debut season.

With the new season kicking off this weekend in Qatar, more eyes will be on the sport than ever before. And while so many owners of said eyes will be close connoisseurs, last year’s title fight was so thrilling that there is likely a whole new generation of fans looking to get better clued into the personalities of MotoGP.

So before Friday’s free practices, Saturday’s Sprint and Sunday’s grand prix, why not brush up on the protagonists of 2024? ESPN presents to you one reason to root for every rider on the grid.

1. Pecco Bagnaia | Ducati Lenovo

Age: 27
Nationality: Italy
Grand prix starts: 87
Grand prix wins: 18
2023 championship position: 1st
Best championship position: 1st (2022, 2023)

Reason to root for them: He’s the two-time defending champ. He’s the standout of MotoGP icon Valentino Rossi’s famed VR46 Academy. He ended Ducati’s 15-year wait for a world championship and backed it up by becoming the only back-to-back world champion in the Italian brand’s storied history.

The Ducati Desmosedici is the class of the field, and no one is more at one with that bike than Bagnaia. His methodical nature, working with his engineers to find solutions and achieve steady progress throughout a race weekend rather than rolling out of the garage with stunning pace on Friday morning, ensures that he’s consistently at the front when it matters most: on Sunday.

Bagnaia faces the prospect of a deeper field of contenders than in both of his world-championship-winning seasons, but his ability…