It wasn’t an easy day for Jorge Martin, who had two crashes and received a penalty, but he also secured a spot in Q2. The Spanish Aprilia rider crashed first in the morning at the end of the session when he returned to the track for the start practice, and then in the afternoon during pre-qualifying. In that session, he also earned a three-position grid penalty for Sunday’s race for obstructing Alex Marquez during his fast lap.
Despite everything, Martin still managed to secure 9th place, which takes him directly to the decisive qualifying session.
“It was a day full of setbacks, but we managed to salvage it,” sighed Jorge. “I have to thank the team; with just one time-attack attempt, I still managed to make it into the top 10. We definitely need to take a step forward because we saw Alex Marquez and the Ducati were very strong, but I’m confident in Aprilia’s work.”
There’s still time to try and iron out the final details.
“I’m less than a tenth off third place; I just need to put in laps—something I wasn’t able to do today—and keep gathering data. I don’t think I can fight for pole position; the goal, as always, is to start from the first two rows,” he concluded.
Photo © Pierluca Brunetti