After the nightmare, Mandalika becomes the track of rebirth for Jorge Martin: author of the pole position, the championship leader dominated from the traffic lights to the checkered flag, returning to the top step of the podium after a long fast. The last victory on Sunday dates back to Le Mans, in May, and today he leaves Indonesia breathing a big sigh of relief.
A year ago, the Pramac team rider paid for wanting to overdo it with a fall, repeating the mistake in yesterday’s Sprint. The excess of confidence led him to approach today’s race with greater caution, which was perfect from start to finish. However, Martin does not hide the fact that he spent almost all the laps of the race with the shadow of past crashes.
“I’m happy, not so much for the result which obviously makes me happy, but above all for having made up for a complicated situation. On lap 13 I started thinking about last year, I had two moments in which I went wide at Turn 10. Then I approached the next one with great calm, I didn’t want to risk anything,” said Martin at the end of the race.
Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
Photo credit: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
The nightmare of the fall was renewed with every lap, when at Turn 16 he contained himself so as not to overdo it. But the Pramac rider had Pedro Acosta behind him: “Every lap, when I switched to 16, I thought about it and said to myself ‘quiet, slow’. Last year I had the potential to win with a good gap and this year I kept six or seven tenths, which is equally complicated, because if you make a mistake they screw you!”.
“I could feel Pedro’s bike, but I thought that if he had caught me at that point, I would have pushed elsewhere. It was a difficult day, it was very hot, but also a lot of wind pushing me. But I managed to maintain the gap and a very constant pace. When I saw that Pedro was close behind, I pushed a little more to be able to open the gap. I had some difficult moments, but I’m happy because mentally it was tough,” explained the World Championship leader.
Now Martin arrives in Japan with a 21 point advantage over Pecco Bagnaia, a lot but not too much: “I always try to win and do what I can. We need to have a little more head, yesterday I was too confident and I made a mistake. It’s important to learn. Yesterday I wanted to win at all costs, but you don’t win like that. Sometimes you can do it, but other times you are too optimistic. I try to learn every day, the final goal is not only to win, but also to be better every day professionally and personally. Winning is a consequence and I hope to continue like this.”
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