Sprint races, a final round title showdown, trials, tribulations and sensations - that was the year 2023 in MotoGP... but who were the big standouts? This is BSN's Top 10 MotoGP Riders of the 2023.

Jorge Martin steps up in 2023 to earn our mantle as MotoGP Rider of the Year

Hell hath no fury than a rider scorned…

While the jury is still out on whether the stride in Jorge Martin’s performance this season was always destined to occur or whether it took being passed over for a plum full-factory seat to fuel an enthusiastic bid for the 2023 MotoGP title, either way this was an affirming year for the highly-rated Spaniard.

Now in his third season of MotoGP, Martin certainly came into the year with a point to prove after making not exactly disguising his irritation at being passed over for a factory Ducati seat alongside Pecco Bagnaia in favour of Enea Bastianini.

Indeed, you could forgive Martin for feeling the impact of dashed expectations, but his was a package that after two years had some rough edges to smooth and it showed initially with as a shaky start to the year consigned him to two DNFs from the opening three events.

However, after steadying the ship with his first Sprint race victory during Round 5 at Le Mans, the fast form came easily thereafter, his rise spurred on by defeating Bagnaia in direct combat at the Sachsenring.

As many prediction before the season, the Sprint race format was a particular speciality of Martin’s in 2023, his stellar MotoGP qualifying record and ability to get up to tempo in race trim serving him well in the shorter, less tyre-wear dependent encounters, enough to take the spoils on a Saturday afternoon on nine occasions.

Even so, it was arguably Martin’s more measured approach to Sunday’s full-length races that made the difference in 2023. Quick at nearly all venues and succumbing to far fewer wayward moments too, Martin’s smoothing of the sharper points in his racecraft ensured a more authoritative swagger, both when out front in the lead and when in the heat of battle, 

As momentum grew during the second-half of the year, so did Martin’s confidence and belief as he reeled Bagnaia in, motivated especially by his emphatic pole and two wins in Misano and his assured victory in the tricky conditions of Motegi.

It’s a shame then that his tumble out of the lead in Indonesia brought that momentum to an abrupt halt, a setback he never quite recovered from.

Still, it’s a credit to Martin for keeping his title hopes alive until the very final race and while he’d be forced to settle for second place in the end, it remains testament to a season of noticeable development… and it would appear there is still more to come. Roll on 2024…

BSN’s Top 10 MotoGP Riders of 2023

2 - Pecco Bagnaia

3 - Marco Bezzecchi

4 - Brad Binder

5 - Fabio Quartararo

6 - Alex Marquez

7 - Luca Marini

8 - Johann Zarco

9 - Fabio di Giannantonio

10 - Aleix Espargaro