MotoGP: Francesco Bagnaia wins the world title at season-ending Valencia Grand Prix

Bagnaia had to finish 14th or higher in the season-endning Valencia Grand Prix

Italian Francesco Bagnaia has been crowned MotoGP world champion after finishing ninth in the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix.

The title marks the greatest comeback in MotoGP's history as the the Ducati rider had trailed Fabio Quartararo by 91 points midway through the season.

Yamaha's Quartararo, the 2021 champion, needed a victory to overcome Bagnaia's 23-point advantage but finished fourth.

Suzuki's Alex Rins won the race ahead of Brad Binder and Jorge Martin.

"The hardest race of my life," Bagnia said.

"My mission was to be in the top five, but I started to struggle after three to four laps, the front of my bike was impossible to control.

"But the most important thing is we won, we are world champions. It's a really great day."

Bagnaia is the first Italian to win the title since Valentino Rossi in 2009 and he is the fourth different champion since 2019.

He ends a 50-year wait for an Italian rider to win the championship on an Italian bike.

Valencia GP result

1 Alex Rins (Spa) Suzuki 41mins 22.250secs

2 Brad Binder (SA) KTM +0.396secs

3 Jorge Martin (Spa) Ducati +1.059

4 Fabio Quartararo (Fra) Yamaha +1.911

5 Miguel Oliveira (Por) KTM +7.122

6 Joan Mir (Spa) Suzuki +7.735

7 Luca Marini (Ita) Ducati +8.524

8 Enea Bastianini (Ita) Ducati +12.038

9 Francesco Bagnaia (Ita) Ducati +14.441

10 Franco Morbidelli (Ita) Yamaha +14.676

Final standings

1 Francesco Bagnaia (Ita) 265pts

2 Fabio Quartararo (Fra) 248

3 Enea Bastianini (Ita) 219

4 Aleix Espargaro (Spa) 212

5 Jack Miller (Aus) 189

6 Brad Binder (SA) 188

7 Alex Rins (Spa) 173

8 Johann Zarco (Fra) 166

9 Jorge Martin (Spa) 152

10 Miguel Oliveira (Por) 149