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What we experienced today in Malaysia was a Saturday that went far beyond the wildest expectations of the entire Pramac Racing team. Jorge Martin not only scored a victory in the Sprint Race at Sepang but, with the complicity of Francesco Bagnaia's crash, he also extended his margin in the standings over the Piedmont rider to 29 points. Making more and more concrete the possibility of making good on his first match point in tomorrow's Grand Prix.
A scenario that Team Manager Gino Borsoi would have hardly imagined on the eve of the short race. As he himself admitted commenting on the the race to the microphones of our correspondent, Matteo Aglio.
"Obviously, I never expected this. I feel sorry for Bagnaia because he's having an incredible season and it's never nice to see your opponent crash - the former rider pointed out - Probably, the strategy of starting strong and trying to attack in the early laps also put Pecco in a bit of a bind, because the pace was incredible. That maybe brought him to the limit and he made a mistake. Or maybe not, because we saw that at that point the asphalt has a small dip and he is not the first rider to have it happen to him to take the bump and crash. That corner is always a danger, because sometimes you don't realize it, you close a little bit, take the dip and end up on the ground. These are things that, unfortunately, sometimes happen."
Reacting to his rival's crash was not easy, but Martin did not let it get him down and masterfully managed the race for all ten laps. Despite the doubts and pressure.
"He reacted in the best possible way. Staying in front was the hardest thing to do, because Marquez was not letting up, Bastianini was coming, and it takes a lot of mental strength in knowing that you have to and want to win, without making mistakes. Because with a mistake he would have thrown away all the great advantage we gained today with the victory - noted the Veneto manager - This shows how mentally strong Jorge has become. He can bring his level to the maximum, even at a time when there is no need to take risks."
A first demonstration of this ability Martin had already given in qualifying, setting a time that only Bagnaia was able to improve.
"I particularly suffered that moment, because we were convinced that Jorge's time was difficult to beat. But then we realized that Pecco was able to lower his visor and move an incredible limit a bit further. I think today in qualifying they both showed the maximum potential of the Ducati," commented Borsoi.
The team manager then told us what he and his rider said to each other immediately after the race.
"He told me that he knew he had to do his race and try to push hard, because he sometimes doesn't want to be told to race with his head and not to risk too much," he admitted, "He is a thoroughbred and when he feels he can win he has to try to do it. We talked about it today and I told him to do the race he felt like doing, to run with his heart. He is so strong mentally by now anyway that he already knows for himself what he has to do. I don't think he needs advice at this point."
Advice that Martin probably won't need tomorrow either. Not least because in the Pramac team box they haven't yet pulled out the calculators to evaluate all the possible combinations that would take Jorge to the title.
"Right now we haven't thought about it. We're just thinking about what to do to the bike to try to give him a balanced bike that allows him to ride well, without having problems," Borsoi pointed out. "We still have to decide on the tire as well, which could be an important choice and determine the race. Tomorrow there could also be rain... So, we will do the Warm Up, look at the data from today as well, and then try to bring the bike to the maximum level. It's not time to do the calculations yet."
