MotoGP, Martìn: "Good to see Pecco and Marc's data, too bad they see mine!"

Jorge Martìn is half smiling at the end of the weekend in Barcelona. He is still the leader in the standings and his lead in the world championship allows him to arrive at Mugello with a lot of peace of mind, but the truth is that Jorge at Montmeló was beaten in qualifying, in the Sprint and then also in the GP and without Bagnaia's crash in the Sprint, the standings would be slightly different. However, the Pramac Spaniard has undoubtedly taken another step toward signing with Ducati Factory, because after six races he is firmly in the championship lead and seems a more mature rider than in the past. With Mugello just around the corner, we will soon know his future.

"I'm happy for today, because yesterday my real position was at best a seventh place while today I'm second, "Jorge commented , "So it means we've worked well, we're in the right direction and that's really important for me. I didn't make the best possible start, but at least the strategy at the beginning was good because I kept to the outside and my position was correct to avoid problems. After I was there, I was able to pass Acosta and Pecco. After that I found myself in front and I was convinced I could manage the tires, although we saw how difficult it was to do that today."

Did you think you could respond to Bagnaia's last overtake?
"When Pecco caught me I was calm, I felt that I was riding well, that I had a good pace. But as soon as he passed me I tried to go after him only I immediately destroyed the rear. We know we can improve, what are my weak points and I know we can work on them. I think for now we are missing something, but the direction is right."

Maybe the soft tire would have helped you?
"For me it was easy to choose the medium, it was a clear decision to make. I know that maybe by putting a soft one I could have been faster in the first laps, but for me I would say it was easy to manage the tire in the race. I saved enough tire for the finish, I don't think with the soft I would have been on the podium."

Did you have a clean suit today, didn't touch with the shoulder so as not to ruin it?
"I was playing a little bit on the track on Friday (laughs, ed.), that's why you saw those pictures. I am not very tall, so I have to use my body in a special way. Maybe others who are taller don't need to do things like that, I don't know. That's how my riding style is now. Maybe sometimes because of this style I also lose time, but at least I hope you like the livery we used here in Barcelona."

Compared to 2023, Ducati went stronger in Barcelona, was it due to the different bike or to you riders?
"In my opinion it was important to change the set-up slightly during the weekend, because with the bike that I would call standard I was suffering a lot with grip on Friday, it was not turning well. When there is little grip KTM and Aprilia are faster than us, or at least their bikes perform as well as ours. I also tried to work a lot on my riding style to improve, and already yesterday I felt much faster in some areas. Ducati is working perfectly, so I know that when there is a lot of grip we are the strongest. But I think here in Barcelona it was more the riders and everyone's riding style that made the difference."

Do you think you have improved by looking at Marc and Pecco's data?
"It's difficult for me, because the perfect rider doesn't exist, the one who can be faster at every single point on the track. But it's nice to see Pecco and Marc's data, because each of them is special. Pecco is incredible in braking, Marc is the strongest in corner entry, while I am the fastest coming out of corners. I try to take some small details from each rider, the key to our performance in my opinion is just that we have so much data to work with. When we are suffering we know that we can look at others and improve. But at the same time, when maybe I am faster, I know that others can look at my data and catch up with me. On the one hand it's nice because then you know you can often be ahead, but on the other hand it's hard because in the end it's hard to beat them and win. I think it's a good challenge to have such fast riders on the same bike, you can learn from each one and that's the most important thing."

You arrive at Mugello still leading the standings, do you think you did everything you could to deserve the Factory bike?
"It was the best start to the season of my career, without a doubt. I think I'm doing a great job, I'm getting the best results I can and I'm going as fast as I can. Hard to say anything, I think I'm working in the right way so let's see what happens in the next few days."

Photo ©Pierluca Brunetti

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