Michael Scott | October 23, 2024
Cycle News In The Paddock
COLUMN
Last-Gasp Heroes
After 75 World Championship years, history means something in racing, and history keeps getting made. Including this year.
With the final flurry of races in full flow, it looks almost certain that the title fight will go to the final round in Valencia in November. That makes it a third consecutive last-race cliff-hanger. A rare event.
Only once since 1949 have there been three consecutive last-race deciders. Followed immediately by another, to make it four—1978 to 1981. The first three went to the same rider: Kenny Roberts, the fourth to Marco Lucchinelli.
If Pecco Bagnaia wins, he will match King Kenny’s hat trick, if not quite yet, his stature. But this championship is not to be pre-judged. Marquez and Bastianini might be seeing hopes fade to mere mathematical possibilities, but Jorge Martin is as ready to take the crown as Pecco is to keep it.
It looks like history will be made again with another championship-deciding final round—between these two, Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin. Photo Gold & Goose
Even single last-gasp deciders are not exactly common—21 times out of 75, or 28 percent. This is in spite of several different scoring systems. When it began, only the best three results from six races counted, and variations on the “best of” scheme continued all the way through to 1976 (six of nine), with a one-off and never to be repeated 13 of 15 in 1991.
Barry Sheene won in 1976 and took full advantage of the system’s loophole, not bothering to go to the last three races, much to the dismay of not only the fans in Finland, Czechoslovakia and West Germany but also race organizers.
On the other hand, the opportunity to pick and choose did have one particular benefit at a time when the riders’ and factories’ opposition to the dangers of the Isle of Man circuit was growing year by year. It meant that skipping the TT wouldn’t necessarily cost them too much in terms of points and might just save their lives. Giacomo Agostini was one champion who took advantage of that.
The closest-ever last-gasp outcome involved another British hero. In 1967 (six out of 10 races counted), Mike Hailwood was riding for Honda and Agostini for the dominant MV Agusta. After a thrilling season of mixed fortunes, especially for Hailwood, for whom gearbox problems were just one hurdle, the dominant pair actually tied on corrected scores, with exactly 46 points each. Ago took the championship by virtue of three-second places to Mike’s two. Neither had finished lower than second in a truly epic year, but as well as reliability issues, the Honda suffered famously bad handling, making Hailwood’s heroism all the more conspicuous. But non-finishes (Mike had three to Ago’s two) tipped the balance.
Not surprisingly, while some last-race deciders can be something of a formality, others are truly memorable.
Like Valentino Rossi’s two losses at Valencia in 2006 and 2015.
In the first, he had seen Nicky Hayden knocked off at Estoril by Honda teammate Pedrosa and while he narrowly lost the race to Toni Elias, second was enough to finally give him the points lead, 247 points to 236. He needed only to finish within two places of Hayden to secure the title. Instead, he fell off. Nicky was third, enough to outrank the hitherto dominant Italian by five points.
It was equally dramatic in 2015, following Rossi’s infamous spat with Marc Marquez in Malaysia. The two had clashed in the pre-race press conference, much to Marc’s puzzlement, after being accused of conspiring with Lorenzo to block Rossi (How? By beating him at the previous race?)
Then in the GP, Rossi devoted himself to harrying Marquez, eventually pushing him off the track into a low-speed crash. This earned him a back-of-the-grid start for the final round two weeks later in Valencia—his last-minute appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport having failed. He’d arrived seven points ahead of hated teammate Lorenzo, but Honda pair Marquez and Pedrosa ushered the Yamaha rider over the line to win, while Valentino was almost 20 seconds down in fourth.
Jorge won the title by five points.
There was a bittersweet aspect to Wayne Rainey’s four-point win over Mick Doohan in 1992. The Yamaha man had been left trailing by Mick’s mighty big-bang Honda NSR in the early part of the year and had even pulled out of the Dutch TT, injured. That was where Mick broke his leg, triggering a horrendously drawn-out medical saga as he missed four races, his legs sewn together at one point to share blood supply. Mick, as thin and pale as a ghost, missed four races but still led by two points as they lined up for the final at Kyalami. Mick was sixth, Rainey fourth, enough to deny his heroic return.
Bagnaia’s last wins have been less slender—17 over Quartararo in 2022, 39 from Martin last year.
Soon we’ll know what’ll happen in 2024. And just how close it will be. CN
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