Leading the race and with some margin ahead of Pecco Bagnaia, no one expected the race to end the way it did for Jorge Martín, and the driver even admitted that he was in great shape and dominating, until the moment he hit the ground.
Speaking to the press, and asked if his fall was related to motivation, or another part inherent to the race, Martín made it clear that the desire to be well is untouchable:
– No, I don’t think it’s a lack of motivation or… that is, obviously. Two laps before I crashed I was the king of the paddock and now I’m not the worst either, you know? I’m not the worst, these are things that can happen. I have to take a cold look at what it is, I don’t know, I couldn’t say right now, but both the crash in Jerez, the one in Mugello, and the one here were identical, that is, with braking entering the corner, not curves to the right. In other words, something that I don’t know what’s happening and with two laps left, which I had already practically done, I was well controlled, I rode very well, I had Pecco under control with those 0.5s that I had recovered, I could keep him in 0.5s for the last lap to have that margin. Of course we were both on the limit, but I think I drove really well.
If up until the moment he fell he was having an impeccable race, #89 considered that in general terms it was: ‘Yes, perfect obviously, there was a moment when Pecco overtook me, but that also served to make him push. I was keeping even more rubber [in the tire] than he was, sometimes it felt like he was escaping, but he was using a lot of rubber and I felt really strong towards the end of the race. And so it was until now, Pecco wasn’t able to make up the distance and it would have cost him, I think, but it’s clear that so far it’s a very good race, I think I drove very well, I was very focused on each moment and it’s a sorry for the crash’.
As the rest period between GPs now arrives, Martín believes he will have time to analyze everything and find a solution: ‘That’s the least important thing, in the end it’s three weeks to see the opportunity and see where we failed, that is, see how to improve. I’d rather this happen now than happen in Malaysia and I’d better take the time to see why’.