Jorge Martín fought until the end and as the Spanish rider said, “it’s either win the race or crash”. Unfortunately, the Pramac Racing rider ended up crashing in an incident with Marc Márquez while fighting for 5th position twenty-two laps from the end of the race.
During the debrief, the Spanish rider talked about his season and all the events of the weekend in Valencia.
– ‘I want to congratulate Pecco, he had a fantastic season and deserved it, just like Ducati. As for me, it’s a day to cry and I’ve already done it today, a day to forget. I also want to celebrate with my team what we have achieved as a satellite team is incredible and we made history. I don’t even know how many podiums, victories, or laps leading I had this year. The goal for this year was top 3, but we surpassed that and fought for the title until the end. In turn 1 I tried to overtake Pecco, but I realized it was risky and when I put the bike back behind him I was sucked in by the air cone, it was one of the most memorable moments of my life because I thought I was going to hit him. I think I had a great pace, I don’t know what Maverick was doing when I was fighting for the title and he was in 6th position, but well, as soon as I passed him I had Marc in front and I should have been more patient, I think I had already passed Marc, but he didn’t realize I was there and closed my trajectory, I couldn’t do anything to avoid contact, I also apologize for the incident I caused him. I went back to the pits and cried with my team and now it’s time to forget this day, it was a good experience for the future and I’m sure we will fight for more championships in the coming years’.
Questioned with the hypothesis of hypothetically being promoted to the official Ducati team if he were to be champion in Valencia, Martín replied: ‘ It doesn’t seem to me. I am happy where I am, even if I were to win the championship today it wouldn’t make sense for me. If we are winning and we are, it’s because we are the best team and we are the best team. Doing better than what I did is very difficult, and if they (Ducati) haven’t seen my potential so far and didn’t want me, it’s because it won’t happen. Throughout the season I made three mistakes as they could see. I apologize to Marc because it was a combination of events and I will talk to him.’
Jorge Martín revealed what he wants to improve on his bike for the next year and talked about the flaws and difficulties he had this year and needs to improve.
– ‘I think we had more difficulties than other teams with the front wheel locking and that was my biggest difficulty this year. It will definitely be the point to improve. I realized I was in the title fight in Misano, I won at Ducati’s home and it was the best feeling in the world. Then, we went to India and I finished second with the wrong tire and was only 14 points behind. I hope that next season I can improve psychologically and hope to be at the same level throughout the season. I promised my team that we will be champions someday, it wasn’t today and it may not be next year, but it will be soon.’
