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Jorge Martin, fresh from signing with Aprilia and now free of worries about his future, returned to face the championship at Assen, a season that still sees him leading the standings. Saturday at Assen for the Spaniard, however, was spent in the wake of an unassailable Bagnaia, both in qualifying and in the subsequent Sprint. Starting 2nd alongside Bagnaia, the Madrid native immediately set out in pursuit of his brand mate from the very first corner.
Pecco's pace, however, was on another level today and a problem with the front in some corners of the Dutch track then forced Martin to a race in pursuit, which ended with an albeit excellent 2nd step of the podium. Fifteen are now the points gap between leader Martin and Bagnaia's Ducati in the standings, but the Spaniard is optimistic ahead of Sunday's race.
You gave it your all but Pecco seemed hard to beat today.
"I tried to keep the best pace I had," Martin explains , "but I don't feel I gave 100 percent. I was in danger of losing the front a lot in turn six and when you do that at 310kmh it's not a great feeling - jokes the Spaniard - so I tried to keep my distance from him but in that section of the track I was losing a lot. Anyway in the rest of the track I have very good sensations since this morning and I am much closer to him, but it seems that he gets it easier. We're going to try to make a small modification to get around this problem in turn 6, it should also help me turn the bike better. Let's try to be optimistic and see what happens tomorrow, I don't know if I will be able to stay close to him or beat him because he is really competitive, but I will try. Overall I'm happy with how the day went, I was competitive since the morning and I did a very good qualifying."
Is seeing your rival so fast in qualifying a psychological pressure?
"No, in the end when you come back to the box with a virtually unbeatable time it's because you also have a very fast pace in general. I missed that today in qualifying but I hope to have it in the future."
Is the loss of front end due to the boost given by the rear of the bike, especially at the beginning of the race with the new tires?
"It may be so, it is a problem but this morning I was on the track with a soft rear and a used front and this problem was not there. That's why I think it's a problem related to the front. We have room for improvement in other areas as well though."
How do you manage to avoid crashing with this front end problem?
"It's hard to explain, but loosening the brakes slightly and letting the aerodynamics work definitely helps. However, this makes you lose precious time and meters, as well as trajectory."
Following Pecco from the first lap, did you see any points where it might be possible to attack him?
"It's already difficult to keep up with him, but attacking him is even more so. He's at an incredible level right now but if I can get close enough maybe I can try. I feel strong at the last chicane, so maybe that could be a good spot. The priority right now is to keep up with him, then we'll think about the rest."
Pecco seems to have a special relationship with Assen, here he really seems to have something extra. Is that the case for you as well?
"Even me on some circuits I have something more and I am faster. But I'm not that far from him here, it's about a tenth. Then it's not just a matter of being fast, but definitely there are several tracks in Asia that I really like, it showed in last season. I feel that race after race I keep improving, as well as season after season, so I am confident that we can find a solution to this problem as well."
Late in the race your friend Aleix had a bad crash.
"I hope he is okay, I don't know his condition yet but he has been competitive all weekend and I hope he is in good condition to participate in tomorrow's race."
