Jorge Martín has to admit defeat to Alex Márquez in the Sepang sprint, but ends up ahead of World Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia. If the tire pressure is too high, it will initially slow down.
With his second place in the Malaysian sprint, Jorge Martín once again gained two points on World Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia, who finished the short race in third place. Martín had actually hoped for more.
“I thought I could win today,” says the Pramac driver. But after the start he fell back to fourth place in the first corners and had to make up ground again.
“The start wasn’t the best, but I think it was more due to the braking phase than the start. I braked a little too early to be on the safe side, but I fell back to fourth place. We have to improve that for tomorrow.”
MotoGP star Martín: Alex Márquez was “pretty aggressive”
During the first lap, Martín was able to move past Enea Bastianini into third place and was ahead of Alex Márquez and Bagnaia. The latter initially led the race, but was attacked early on by Márquez.
When the first attempt failed, Martín took advantage of the situation and overtook Márquez. However, he reacted immediately.
“When I overtook Alex because he made a mistake, he was pretty aggressive,” Martín said, summing up the situation. “But I felt like I was faster than Pecco at that point.”
However, it wasn’t until round six that both Márquez and Martín left the world champion behind. But it wasn’t enough for Martín to attack for victory: “In the end, Alex had a little more than us today and was faster.”
MotoGP: Martín complains about pressure in the front tire
The Gresini driver won by one and a half seconds. “We have to understand how he makes a difference with the same bike. He rode very well,” says Martín.
When asked, the current World Championship runner-up added: “I just saw that he had a lot of confidence in the front wheel. As far as the pressure in the front tire is concerned, he doesn’t seem to have had any problems. Out of the fast corners he had a lot of grip and barely degrading tires. He was very consistent until the end.”
When it comes to tire pressure, Martín, for his part, had the problem that “the pressure in the front tire shot up at the beginning,” he reveals.
“We expected to be first or second after the start, but I was fourth. That complicated everything. I had to adapt with my driving style.”
MotoGP star Martín: “Not real, but technical races”
The Pramac driver criticizes the specified guidelines for tire pressure: “It’s a shame that we can’t give our 100 percent on the track because of this rule. They have to approach us a bit and lower the specifications.”
“So we don’t see real races, we see technical races. If my technician sets the wrong tire pressure, I can’t push, I can’t show my potential. That destroys the style of racing. And that could be a real disaster next year , if nothing changes.”
Despite the tire pressure problem, Martín was at least able to close the gap to Bagnaia in the race and ultimately leave him behind by a second and a half. “That was important. I thought he would stay closer to me.”
In the overall standings, the two are now only separated by eleven points. “I’ve been looking at the data all weekend and it’s super tight,” says Martín.
MotoGP: Martín fears high tire degradation
“We drive very similarly. It almost looks like the same driver in the data. It’s difficult to understand where we can improve.” That’s why he’s happy today, but “can’t be all smiles,” says the World Cup chaser.
“Because tomorrow it depends and I have to deliver. So I’m a little more thoughtful, but I hope that tomorrow we’ll have a reason to shine.”
Looking at the long race, the Spaniard assumes that the pace will “definitely be slower”. “Just because of our physical condition. We can’t do 20 laps on a time attack. But also because of the tires, because they were already at their limit today,” Martín points out.
“Some drivers like Pecco struggled towards the end of the race. I also had problems at the front and rear. So we will have to manage the tires similarly to how we did in Thailand.”