Il Messaggiere - Advantage Martin as MotoGP reaches gripping climax in Barcelona

Last year, it was Bagnaia who held the advantage taking a 21-point lead into the final race which ultimately produced a second successive title for the Italian.

This time around it is the Spaniard, Martin, who holds the keys to the kingdom.

He is 24-points clear of Bagnaia and knows that even if his rival wins the sprint (12 points) and the grand prix (25pts) he would still win the title with a podium finish in Barcelona on Sunday.

Martin will seal his first championship on Saturday if he wins the sprint.

"Given the ranking, Martin has a better chance, but nothing is certain until the checkered flag," three-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo told MotoSprint.

"He would certainly have to make a lot of mistakes to lose the title."

It should be a slam dunk, especially as history shows that the biggest points deficit overturned in the final round was the eight that separated Nicky Hayden from Valentino Rossi in 2006.

The Italian slid off leaving the "Kentucky Kid" a free run to the podium and his only world title.

Rossi also coughed up a seven-point lead in 2015 to Lorenzo while the only other rider to snatch the title from the leader on the final day was Wayne Rainey who overhauled Mick Doohan's two-point lead in 1992.

However, the ups and downs of this season, which have seen the two riders exchange the championship lead numerous times, suggests that there may yet be a final twist.

- 'Martin's year' -

Others such as Marc Marquez have enjoyed some good days but there is no doubt that, just as they did last year, Bagnaia and Martin have dominated the season.

They have won 13 of the 19 grand prix with Bagnaia taking 10 while Martin has only won three. The Spaniard, however, has been the model of consistency, taking 10 second-places.

"He worked hard with a sports psychologist to channel his impetuosity, although he still made mistakes, like Bagnaia," said Lorenzo.

"It's been a year with a lot of mistakes but it looks like it's Martin's year. I would be happy if he wins, because he's a smart and talented guy who deserves at least one MotoGP title."

The battle between the two riders is made all the more interesting in that, while not in the same team, there is no great difference between their bikes.

Bagnaia rides for the Ducati factory team and Martin for Pramac, the Italian manufacturer's satellite team, with identical machines.

Ducati dominates the MotoGP grid with eight machines out of 22. The factory team and Pramac are running two bikes each while Gresini and VR46 also have two bikes albeit of last year's specifications.

However, that doesn't seem to have worried six-time world champion Marc Marquez -- who rides for Gresini -- as he has won three GPs this season.

Engineer Gigi Dall'Igna has mastered the subtleties of aerodynamics better than anyone else, applying the ground effect recipes from Formula One to the bike to make full use of the power of the 1000cc V4 engine.

Whoever wins this weekend, Ducati will look back on a monster season.

This weekend's climax in Barcelona, however, will not all be about the racing.

The race was due to take place in Valencia but had to be moved after the region suffered its worst floods in a generation last month, which have killed more than 220 people.

The race was switched to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last week and has been dubbed the Solidarity GP to show support for the people of Valencia.

H.Giordano--IM