– In the early phase of the MotoGP race in Misano, Jorge Martin (Aprilia) seemed to be the biggest challenger to Marc Marquez (Ducati). In the first lap, his Aprilia teammate Marco Bezzecchi retired due to a crash.
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Martin took up the chase of Marc Marquez and was able to keep up. In the seventh lap, Martin even took the lead and everything pointed to a duel for the victory.
But in the twelfth of 27 laps, Marquez overtook and regained the lead. Subsequently, Martin was also overtaken by Alex Marquez (Gresini-Ducati) and Pedro Acosta (KTM) and was only fourth.
In the 20th lap, Martin also lost this position to Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini-Ducati) and finally finished fifth. “I had big problems with arm pump,” Martin names the reason for his collapse.
“It’s a shame, I think we lost a big chance today. I really felt good. I had a great start. I thought Marc would pull away, but then I caught him again and took the lead.”
“After that, I even pulled away. I had a good pace. I didn’t push like crazy and still pulled away, but then I got problems braking, then accelerating, and every lap it got worse.”
“In the end, I couldn’t do anything anymore,” sighs Martin. “I no longer had full control of the bike. It’s a shame. I didn’t expect that this would be the problem of the race today.”
The former world champion already felt slight discomfort with arm pump during Friday’s practice, but according to his statement, this is normal in Misano at the beginning of a race weekend. In the sprint, arm pump was still manageable.
“Today I had that in mind and tried to ride really gently, to be gentle with the throttle. This is a track where we all struggle with arm pump, but for me, the arm was completely blocked.”
“I couldn’t do anything,” says Martin. “Everyone overtook me from turn 5 to 6 because I couldn’t even open the throttle there. Shit happens, and today was one of those days.”
Does Martin need surgery again?
It is now uncertain whether the 28-year-old will soon need surgery to relieve the symptoms of compartment syndrome. Martin had already undergone surgery on his forearm in 2019.
“After that, I never had this problem again. Now I am here again. I have seen various riders who had the problem again after years and perhaps had to undergo surgery again.”
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“Maybe that’s the case with me too. Maybe not. I don’t know. I will try to understand it with the doctors and also listen to the recovery time. We will see what I can do.”
The Grand Prix of Austria in Spielberg is already on the calendar for the coming weekend. For Martin, it will be an interesting test to see if arm pump also occurs there.
“We definitely have to understand what to do after Austria, whether I need surgery or not. Now there are many races in a row, so I don’t know if surgery is the best option or not.”
Is arm pump costing him his world championship chance now?
In the world championship, Marc Marquez has caught up with Martin with two sprint and Grand Prix wins in a row. Both have 274 points after 14 of 22 race weekends.
Marc Marquez leads the standings because he has won five Grands Prix and Martin only one so far. “I don’t want to lose the chance,” says Martin with a view to the world championship battle.
“I feel ready to fight for the world championship. Today I was ready to fight for the win. That’s something that definitely can’t help me, but we have to check it.”
“Definitely, I feel, as I said, ready. I feel I have the speed, the bike, the team. I have everything. Nothing is missing, but now I have this question mark on my arm. I don’t know.”
“I think Austria will not be a problem, but I don’t know. If I have no problems in Austria, maybe we can continue and forget this here, but maybe it will happen again in another race.”
“It can be the big problem that decides whether I lose this championship or not, or maybe not. I don’t know. I hope I have a great medical team around me.”
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“At the moment Marc is at a good level, an amazing level. I think I have the speed, but I really don’t know what to say about my condition for the next races. These are things I can’t control.”
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