The MotoGP World Championship is entering the decisive phase of the season. After a week’s break, the championship will face the Grands Prix of Malaysia, Qatar and Valencia, where the battle for the title will be decided between Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia, who experienced his best chapter in Thailand, with an exceptional race on Sunday. It was the icing on the cake of a fundamental weekend for both riders, but especially for the Spaniard.
What happened in Buriram marked a before and after for Martin, and not because he took pole position and won both races, something he had already done at Misano and Motegi, for example, to reduce the gap in the standings overall of drivers at 13. It was because he won in a very different way from previous races, and because what happened after the race will certainly shape his strategy for the final three races of the season.
As regards the first interpretation, it is clear that the Spanish rider had a lot at stake in Buriram after the two mistakes made in Mandalika, when he crashed while comfortably leading, and in Phillip Island, when a bad choice of the soft rear tire it cost him the win, causing him to finish fifth after leading the entire race.
Martin went from overtaking Bagnaia on Saturday in Indonesia to once again finding himself 27 points behind and in avoidable fashion, so it was necessary to see him capable of managing the race better. And he did it. Thanks to his explosiveness, the driver from San Sebastian de los Reyes is very good in the Sprints and had no problems winning the one held in Thailand, his seventh so far in 2023. But the long race was a clear demonstration that, like himself he had warned, he learned from his mistakes.
His management, on a day dedicated to strategy, was truly impeccable. He started using the same tire choice as the others, the medium front and the hard rear, without the need for a different choice. And he continued to take care of it at every moment during the 26 laps of the race. The number 89 was certainly aware that this was his realistic option to finish on top, since, as Bagnaia had warned on Saturday, he didn’t appear to have the best pace.
That’s not to say his pace wasn’t competitive, in fact, it was. In fact, between the fourth and the nineteenth lap he was always between 1’31″0 and 1’31″5, without ever exceeding the latter threshold. But it is also true that Martin was only fastest on the first lap, not on the following 25. Could he have done it if he wanted? Surely. But he would run out of rubber towards the end, like in Australia. And being the fastest didn’t interest him at all.
The man from San Sebastián de los Reyes has adopted this profile, different from what he usually has, but necessary to not fail again. And he succeeded. Managing more didn’t stop him from leading for a good part of the race, more than two thirds, despite not being the fastest. And it allowed him to arrive with more rubber, at least compared to Bagnaia, who used more to get back to the leading tandem.
The fight with Brad Binder was, of course, close. But Martin knew how to use the tire he had left and go to the limit when necessary. He did it in the great overtaking he made on the South African to regain the lead and, subsequently, when he did a last lap of the race as if it were the one in qualifying (1’31″866, when the previous one was 1’32″282) to Don’t let the victory slip away.
When some said he would no longer be able to use his head, Jorge gave a lesson in putting mistakes behind him, but keeping them in mind. It is predictable that the same script will follow in Sepang, Losail and Valencia, because the stretch of the season is even more decisive and the mental aspect becomes even more relevant. The Spanish driver himself admitted after Sunday’s race that he was “mentally broken” after a hat-trick of ups and downs.
But, beyond all this, the truth is that Martín will be forced to deal with what happened after the long race in Buriram. While Aleix Espargaro was the first to be penalized for failing to comply with the minimum tire pressure rule, the title contender was one of the first drivers to receive a warning from the stewards.
The new MotoGP rule for 2023 establishes that, for both tyres, a minimum pressure parameter must be maintained for 50% of the long race on Sunday and for 30% of the Sprint on Saturday. After the first infringement, there is a time penalty: 3 seconds more on the final race time for the second infringement (what happened to Espargaro), 6 for the second and 12 for the third.
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This setback is undoubtedly a problem for Martin. In a context like the current World Championship, where everything is hotly contested, 3 seconds can cause you to lose precious points: from a victory to several positions (Aleix dropped from 5th to 8th place in Thailand).
Looking at the last three Grands Prix, Bagnaia still has this wildcard, which will allow him to go below the allowed value in one of the 6 remaining races. The official Ducati rider himself declared at Misano that he did not want to use it in Sunday’s race, being very farsighted about what could happen at the end of the year.
None of this means that Martin will be penalised. For example, Vinales was booked after Montmelò and has managed to avoid a time penalty for now. But it is clear that Jorge will have to approach the races in a slightly different way, continuing to manage himself even more, as he started to do in Thailand.
It will be the last test for the Spaniard in a championship that is about to be defined, and in which he will face a rival like Bagnaia, who has already won a title and who is also changing his strategy, for example by pushing the on Friday after not immediately making it to Q2 in Indonesia and Australia. The pressure is on both of them and everything will count to define this year’s champion.
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