In a weekend characterized by treacherous conditions that made life difficult for the riders, Jorge Martin almost comes out as the winner. The second position in the Sprint of the Aragon Grand Prix almost smells of success, considering that the winner Marc Marquez has been unbeatable since the first free practice session at Motorland.
The Pramac team rider was today “the first of the humans” and the second place in the short race also allowed him to return to the top of the championship with a 3-point advantage over Pecco Bagnaia, who was in extreme difficulty today. To date, Martin is the most successful rider in the Sprints, with four seasonal successes, but the highest step of the podium on Saturday has not been since Sachsenring. However, today it was impossible to think of beating Marc, who returned to being the alien we have all always been used to seeing.
“How does it feel to be the leader? It’s the same feeling as always, now it’s not important,” explained the Pramac rider, who doesn’t want to look at the standings but concentrate on today’s performance. “The important thing is to always be in the fight, but the goal is not so much to be the leader, but to always improve. At the moment we’re doing it so I’m happy,” continued the new world championship leader, satisfied with his result in any case.
Martin can be happy with how this Sprint went, considering that Marc Marquez seemed out of reach for everyone. So, with the Gresini rider starting as a big favorite, the Madrid native rode the 11 laps of the race with the knowledge that a second place would have been an excellent result: “I never thought that the victory was possible today, I knew that Marc was stronger. But I started well, I tried to follow him a bit and I felt good, but after three laps the tire collapsed a lot. With the soft on the rear I suffered a bit, maybe tomorrow with the medium we can close the gap to Marc a bit”.
Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“It seems like he feels the drop of the front less and that’s a great thing. Then in three or four corners he makes a big difference, he takes the gap there and manages to keep it lap after lap. I have to improve in those corners, if I can I can close the gap. But at the moment he is the strongest and the favorite for tomorrow. I will try to do my best, but if it means finishing second or third or fourth it will be fine,” explained Martin, who tried to understand where Marquez makes the difference compared to everyone else.
The Martin who arrives after the Aragon Sprint appears more aware and mature, but he also showed it on the track. During the first phase of Q2 he slipped, having to return to the pits and get on the second bike. The Spaniard, however, kept calm, managing not only to complete a good lap but also to earn the front row: “The fall? This morning I was faster, more in the lean… it was impossible not to fall! But I feel like I am a more mature rider, because in the race I tried to push hard and not let Marc get away, but then I understood that there was no way to win”.
“So I tried to learn from him as much as possible and understand something for tomorrow. Experience is definitely important, it’s still my fourth season in MotoGP, for Marc it’s maybe his eleventh. In these particular conditions maybe I still lack a little experience in this category, but I try to learn to be a better rider,” he explained.
But he won’t only have to deal with Marquez. Martin expects Pecco Bagnaia to climb back up the order in Sunday’s race: “Tomorrow he’ll find a way to climb back up. Maybe yesterday I was a little faster than him, but today he got much closer, even in qualifying. There’s a gap with Marc that I think I can close a little in the race tomorrow, but Pecco will definitely be much better tomorrow than today.”
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