Managing races is crucial in MotoGP. It’s not always possible to win, and sometimes you need to secure the best possible result. However, there are moments when every victory is vital in the fight for titles.
This is the current situation for Jorge Martín. The Prima Pramac rider seems to be at a slight disadvantage compared to Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) in the title fight, with the Italian winning five of the last six rounds despite the two being separated by just five points.
On the podcast Dura la Vita, Jorge Lorenzo noted that while Bagnaia can remain calm even if he finishes behind Martín, the same can’t be said for the Spaniard, who ends up with less room to manage:
– He fell into the trap of seeing who could brake later. On the other hand, Bagnaia says, «If I’m first, great, I’ll try to stay first, but if I finish second, it’s not the end of the world». But for Martín, it’s, «I have to be first». And when you go in with the mindset of «I only have the option to be first», you have no room for management.
The former rider emphasized that Martín is more willing to take risks than Bagnaia: ‘After qualifying, Martín said, «On that last lap, I was going to take risks, and I didn’t care if I crashed to get pole position. In the end, it worked out for me». You will never hear that statement from Pecco, because Pecco doesn’t want to crash. «If I can get pole position, great, but if not, I’ll take second». But Martín, no, he said, «I have to get pole»’.