It’s the moment of truth, there’s very little left to know who will be the 2023 MotoGP world champion and the tension begins to rise. The tense nerves were already evident in the free practice of the Valencia Grand Prix, where Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia fought for direct access to Q2 with the help of strategy and psychological games. The Pramac rider managed to secure a pass for the second qualifying phase, while the world championship leader will be forced to pass through Q1, after a complicated Friday.
Martin himself was responsible for making an already tough first day more difficult, as for the first time this year he put himself behind Bagnaia to “do the Marc Marquez”. Yes, because the Pramac standard bearer looked for a tow, which served not so much to obtain a good time but to make him nervous and take away from him the calmness that he showed until yesterday. The feat seems successful and today’s objective is accomplished: Martin is in Q2 after having irritated his rival in the championship.
“Everything went as we hoped,” began the Spaniard at the end of Friday’s free practice, which he finished in second position. “I marked Pecco mostly to understand how he goes, to see his strong and weak points, to find out information. I thought he was going to shoot, but I don’t know if he didn’t want to or what happened. There was also a yellow flag, so a combination of things. But obviously the goal was to get into Q2.”
21 points separate the two contenders in the standings and Pecco only needs 4 on Saturday to close the game. So, Martin and the team are trying to play strategically: “We all thought a lot during this week, it’s not easy to put pressure on a great rider like Pecco. Obviously he will also have tomorrow to enter Q2, but putting him in difficulty a little was important. He obviously wasn’t comfortable with me being behind him, but in the end we were both pulling enough. I was very focused on my things, on not falling and doing things well. There was a moment when he almost made me go with him.”
However, Martin is keen to underline how the strategy implemented in today’s free practice is a desperate attempt not to let Bagnaia escape. The Spaniard recognizes that it is a habit that does not belong to him: “It was a tense moment, it’s not something I like to do. You’ve never seen me do something like this, I’ve always shot alone. It’s an image I don’t like to give, I’ve always been a driver who never liked looking for a tow. I wasn’t happy when it happened because in the end it’s not even fair.”
“On the other hand, however, a psychological game is important and we needed to put a little pressure on him, make things a little more complicated than they are. It didn’t go as we expected, there were riders in the middle, but I think he got a little nervous. I think time-wise, he can do a low 28 tomorrow. He didn’t have a great lap today, I think he has a lot of margin. Having to go through Q1, however, is not ideal,” continues Martin.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
Despite the marking on Friday in Valencia, the Pramac team rider appeared in better shape than his rival. This is demonstrated by the times taking into consideration the tires used: “It was a positive day, in the morning I didn’t feel as I would have liked, but with the new asphalt it wasn’t easy to get everything right. But in the afternoon we made a huge step forward, so I’m very happy. We had a somewhat complicated strategy, I had to do a time attack with the medium, which I don’t like.”
“I think it’s important to put riders between me and Pecco, I have no problem towing people, whoever is behind me. I have confidence in the fact that I can be among the fastest and I think putting people in the middle helps me. I saw Fabio, Alex Marquez, Bastianini who can do well on the flying lap. In terms of pace, I saw that everyone was on the new medium and soft, I went with the used tire from the morning but even so I had three or four tenths more. So I think I was the only one who got as many as 23 turns of tire in a low 30. I hope I can show this pace on Sunday,” concludes Martin.
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