Jorge Martin continues to bomb even when the MotoGP arrives in Australia. After leading the standings on Saturday in Mandalika and losing the lead with the crash on Sunday, the Pramac team rider started the Phillip Island weekend on a high. In the morning he led the FP1 and in the afternoon he was always in the top positions, closing the tests in fourth position, with a 1’28”222 less than 3 tenths from the day’s leader Brad Binder.
This contrasted with the problems his rival was having again for the world championship. Pecco Bagnaia was once again left out of direct access to Q2, as already happened in Indonesia last week. The reigning champion did not go beyond 11th position, almost two tenths behind Johann Zarco, the last qualifier for Q2, and will therefore have to contest Q1.
Despite this complication for the official Ducati rider, Martin expects him to be back in the fight already on Saturday, when the long race and not the Sprint will be held. This change is due to the weather conditions (strong gusts of wind) expected on Sunday, when in theory the Sprint should be held.
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
After Friday’s practice, Martin acknowledged that he feels “super strong” as he looks to Bagnaia: “I noticed a big step forward compared to last year, I tried all the tires available and I feel very good. The difficult thing will be choosing the compound. In the afternoon, with used tyre, we were even stronger.”
“It’s clear that if you’re not in Q2 you have problems, but we know that it’s been like this before. Pecco has come out of even worse situations in the past, so I’ll wait for him tomorrow,” he commented, referring to his rival in the championship.
“I felt super strong. With the used medium tire I was very competitive. I still struggle a little bit to overtake in a couple of places, but I hope to sort this thing out,” she added on what looks like her weak point at Phillip Island after Friday’s practice.
Finally, Martin underlined that he felt ready to run the long race on Saturday and gave the main key to this, on a track where there have been group races in recent years: “It will be very important to start from the leading positions”, he stated .
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