by STEFANO OLLANU
Martin surprise of the year
The 2023 World Cup did not end with a happy ending for Jorge Martin, who found himself competing for the drivers’ title with Francesco Bagnaia until the last race, the Sunday one in Valencia. However, the Spaniard cannot help but look at the championship that has just ended with positivity, given that getting to compete for the world championship with a private team was no mean feat, even if riding the same Ducati supplied to the official team of champion Francesco Bagnaia.
2024, one more rival
Martin obviously made no secret of his desire to try again next year, taking advantage of the experience gained this season. But beyond the clear favorite Francesco Bagnaiatwo-time world champion of the MotoGP class, next year Martin will have one more rival, namely that Marc Marquez than just to get on one Ducati GP23 he left Honda with a championship to spare.
In the long interview given to the television program El HormigueroMartin also touched on the topic of Marc Marquez, starting fromaccident of the last Cheste GP: “It’s the first time I’ve seen what happened again. It was a complicated moment, I didn’t want to touch him, in fact I tried to pick up the bike. If I had stayed lying down we would have just touched each other, but when I lifted the motorbike, I made his skid and we both ended up on the ground. For me it was a terrible moment, because it was his last race with Honda.”
Martin then said he was amazed by the sportsmanship shown by Marquez after the accident: “When I saw him again after the race, I approached him and His attitude surprised me. He told me not to worry and that he would have done the same if he had been fighting for the world championship. I started with the idea of taking all or nothing. Either I would have won, or I would have fallen. If I had suffered contact like that, I don’t know how I would have reacted. Marc is the best in history, I have good vibes with him, so much so that on Monday we exchanged helmets”. But talking about friendship between the two is excessive: “I get along with only one rider, Aleix Espargarò, with whom I have an almost brotherly bond. With others I don’t pretend that they are my friends, they are rivals. I always go to the limit, I only worry if I meet Aleix on the track, with all my opponents my philosophy is: “You take away or I’ll take you away”.
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