MotoGP | Martin: “It started badly, but I see myself fighting for the victory”

The Friday of the Spanish Grand Prix started in a less explosive way than usual for Jorge Martin, who was unable to be incisive straight away, following his rivals in fifth position. However, the championship leader gets direct access to Q2 and in an extremely competitive MotoGP that sees many riders potentially fighting for the most coveted position it is certainly an advantage.

Martin still collects four tenths from Pecco Bagnaia, author of the best time and the new track record. According to the Spaniard, Saturday will be a different story, because the start of the weekend wasn't the best but he improved step by step: “I'm satisfied with the day, we didn't start in the best way, I didn't feel good with the tire rear, but little by little we solved it and in the afternoon I felt good.”

“I did 11 laps with the average very constant, in 37 low and we improved on the 11th lap, it was a sort of Sprint simulation. Maybe I missed a few laps on the soft to feel better in the time attack, in the second attempt I found a yellow flag, but I maintain the consistency with which I am working and I can challenge for the victory”, says the championship leader, who appears confident of the its capabilities and means.

As always, the choice of tire will be crucial, but it seems quite clear that the Sprint will require the use of the softer compound: “For me the Sprint will be done more with the soft, we'll have to see tomorrow to decide. I only made two attempts, but the average maintains a great pace. I went almost seven tenths better than last year, so it will be a very fast race on Sunday. I didn't want to make Austin's mistake and I want to test both tires well. Tomorrow morning we will try the soft and see.”

A problem that seems to have disappeared today is that of vibrations, which has affected various Ducati riders at the start of the season: “Vibrations? It went much better today, I saw that I had no temperature problems in the long run and we hope to continue like this tomorrow. Lately in MotoGP Saturday is very important, perhaps even more so here in Jerez. But I'm working on being able to overtake and be able to defend myself if I'm in front, I think it will be very important for the race.”

Race which, according to Martin, will have fewer protagonists than the qualifying. In fact, if on the flying lap he saw several rivals, in terms of pace the Spaniard identified three adversaries: “If we look at the pace, there are Maverick Vinales and Marc Marquez who are very strong, then Pecco Bagnaia worked more with the soft, so perhaps in the Sprint it is more competitive. These three are perhaps the strongest, together with me. I see less in terms of pace than those who are on the flying lap, so qualifying will be close.”