English
Italiano
When the going gets tough, the tough start fighting, and Jorge Martin didn’t disappoint expectations Saturday in Portimão. After confirming his usual speed in qualifying, finishing 3rd, two tenths behind Marc Marquez, the Pramac rider proved to be one of the absolute stars of the Sprint Race, leading for most of the race.
“I’m certainly happy for the front row I conquered this morning, and for finishing the Sprint Race in the top three. I didn’t expect any result, and I would’ve been happy even if I had finished fourth. Everything went well, and it was important to figure out the format a bit today, and also the race. But losing the victory at the last lap was a shame,” Martin said during the press conference. “In any case, I was in the lead for several laps. I gained a lot of confidence and, like during the past season, I feel I’m very strong in braking, which is an important aspect. I felt better with the medium on the rear, so I think tomorrow we’ll get the opportunity to battle it out and have a good pace in the last part of the race. I’m confident.”
Just one mistake at the last lap managed to prevent Jorge from establishing himself as the first winner of the short race, delivering the victory to Bagnaia. But Jorge can still enjoy his silver medal, despite a hint of regret for the near victory.
“I struggled throughout the race with the hard on the front, and I made a mistake. I tried to brake a bit later to defend myself from a possible overtaking but, in doing so, I made a mistake. I went wide and lost the position,” the 25-year-old rider explained, as he talked about the episode at Turn 5. “I tried to push to stay close to him. In the last corner, going towards the checkered flag, I was really fast, but he pushed a lot. I still earned some good points today.”
A nice double win for Ducati and important information ahead of tomorrow’s GP.
“Getting points on Saturday is weird. With the sprint race, you prepare for everything: the start, the first laps, and the areas where to overtake. From my point of view, I think you can make more mistakes, because you have to push a lot, and it’s not the same thing compared to the GP, when you can ride more loosely,” the Pramac rider commented. “But, in the end, I hope that the positions won’t change much. I hope to fight for the victory, but we’ve already started to see the level of the other riders.”
Aside from the result, the Ducati rider seems to have enjoyed the fast race, although the format still needs to be perfected in view of the continuation of the season.
“It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed these laps, whereas I usually don’t have much fun in a normal race, because you have a lot of problems. You have problems with the tires, and also physically, while it was easier to finish the race today in perfect condition, and finishing in a good position certainly helped to make the race more fun,” Martin said. “We were ready when we arrived here, and everything was working well since yesterday, so we had more time for ourselves, but it was still difficult to have lunch and recuperate between qualifying and the race. I think that, along with Dorna, we could work together in the next Safety Commission to understand what we can improve, because it’s sometimes difficult to prepare for the race, especially if you’re having problems. Maybe we need more time between qualifying and the race, or maybe we need to do fewer interviews.”
Not every rider, however, seems to have liked the Sprint race Aleix Espargarò admitted that he’d prefer to have two long races, both on Saturday and Sunday.
“I agree with Pecco. It would be impossible,” the Spanish rider stated, and he also spoke about the risk issue: “It was the first time, so I think we’re all a bit nervous. I felt more nervous than usual myself. Many riders wanted to recuperate quickly, but you have to consider that you don’t need to risk an accident for one or two points. Obviously, if you’re upfront, you have to follow your own pace and try to be as fast as possible, to bring home some good points. Race after race, I think we’ll all be more relaxed.”
