– Jorge Martin was indeed among the frontrunners at MotorLand Aragon, but he could not fight for a podium place on his own merit. He finished fifth in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix, while his Aprilia teammate Marco Bezzecchi was on the podium in both races.
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“Honestly, I think,” says Martin, “that this is one of our worst tracks, and yet we are fighting closely here with the Ducatis. That’s why I feel that we are definitely in a good position.”
Nevertheless, after the Sprint he stated that fifth place was “more than” he had expected. Overall, it was a difficult weekend for the Spaniard.
There was one main problem: “I don’t feel much grip. Maybe I need to train more flat track, because honestly I feel like I’m constantly sliding. I don’t really feel comfortable on the bike.”
“I have to understand it. I just need more grip on the front wheel. In the first laps I feel good because the tires are fresh. But as soon as the grip decreases, it’s difficult for me to keep the pace.”
“I have a good feeling for the front wheel. The problem is that the grip decreases. I lose grip more and more. I think the bike works really well. I just have to improve riding with less and less grip.”
In the Grand Prix, Martin benefited at the start from a mistake by Marc Marquez. The Ducati factory rider forgot to deactivate the ride-height system after the first corner. This caused a small chaos.
Martin took advantage of the confusion and moved up to second place, but still in the first lap he was overtaken by Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta. In the second lap, he also fell behind Alex Marquez.
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From then on, it was a lonely race for Martin in fifth place. “It was difficult, but no different than I expected,” he comments on his race. “I tried to stay optimistic.”
“Maybe with a good start I could have done a bit more. But I couldn’t. The top 5 was the maximum, and I am satisfied that I reached this maximum.”
“The grip overall was my limit throughout the weekend. I tried a lot to deal with the grip. I think around mid-race or towards the end I felt a bit better.”
“As I said, the top 5 was the maximum. I took the points. I prefer that to the risk of crashing. I think that’s exactly what I have to do at the moment.”
“Maybe I have to take more risks in the next races, but not in this race,” says Martin. He kept the championship lead, but his advantage over Marc Marquez, who is now second, shrank to 19 points.
Is he worried that the reigning world champion is catching up more and more? “I am working on improving every day. I am still in the lead, so apparently I am doing something right,” Martin answers this question.
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