Jorge Martín achieved a double podium at the Qatar MotoGP Grand Prix. After winning the Sprint race, he finished third in the main race at Losail and is third in the championship after the opening round.
The Spanish rider from Prima Pramac expressed satisfaction with the results, stating in the press conference: ‘I can’t complain. I’m super happy. If you asked me on Saturday, I think I wouldn’t be on the podium on Sunday. So I’m pleased about the result. For sure I think we had the potential to do a bit better in the main race, but it is what it is. Anyway we are competitive. On Saturday with the [lap] record and the Sprint win, on Sunday we were on the podium’.
In the final laps, Martín was involved in a battle for second place with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM), while also having to be cautious with the approaching Marc Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) – a moment of the race that #89 commented on: ‘I had two battles at the same time – I had Brad in front, that I was trying to catch him; and then I was with Marc really, really close trying to catch me. Two laps from the end, I was able to take a lot of risk and to make this gap. I was thinking a move on Brad in the last lap, but maybe it was too much’.
The 2023 runner-up considers that he has not yet reached his maximum potential, but still, it was one of the best starts of the season he has had in MotoGP: ‘I think it’s the best start of my career so far in MotoGP, so I think it’s good – because normally I start really, really bad, so starting like this we just need to grow. It was difficult, I couldn’t ride at my 100% because we still struggle with the bike. Let’s see in Portimão if we can improve’.