Jorge Martín fought to the end and, as the Spanish rider said, “it’s win the race or crash”. Unfortunately, the Prima Pramac Racing rider ended up crashing in an incident with Marc Márquez when he was fighting for 5th position with 22 laps to go.
In a debrief, the Spanish rider spoke 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, as did Ducati. As for me, it’s a day to cry and I’ve already done that today, a day to forget. I also want to celebrate with my team what we’ve achieved as a satellite team, it’s incredible and we’ve made history. I can’t tell you how many podiums and wins or laps in the lead I’ve had this year. The goal for this year was top three, but we overcame 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 into the splitstream, it was one of the most shocking moments of my life because I thought I was going to hit him. I think I had great pace, I don’t know what Maverick was doing when I’m fighting for the title and he’s fighting for 6th place, but that’s it, as soon as I passed him I had Marc in front and I should have been more patient, I think I had already won the position from Marc, but he didn’t realize I was there and closed the gap on me, I couldn’t do anything to avoid the contact, I also apologize for the incident I caused him. I went back to the pits and cried with my team and now I have to forget this day, it was a good experience for the future and I’m sure we’ll be fighting for more championships in the coming years.
Asked about the hypothetical possibility of being promoted to the official Ducati team if he won the championship in Valencia, Martín replied: “I don’t think so. I’m happy where I am, even if I won the championship today it wouldn’t make sense to me. If we’re winning and we are, it’s because we’re the best team and we’re the best team. To do better than I’ve done is very difficult, and if they (Ducati) haven’t seen my potential so far and haven’t wanted me, it’s because it’s not going to happen. I’ve made three mistakes all season, as you can see. I apologize to Marc because it was a combination of events and I’m still going to talk to him.
Jorge Martín revealed what he wants to improve about his bike for next year and spoke about the problems and difficulties he has had this year and which he needs to improve.
– “I think we had more difficulties than the other teams with the front wheel locking up and that was my biggest difficulty this year. That will definitely be the point to improve. I realized I was in the fight for the title at Misano, I won at the home of Ducati and it was the best feeling in the world. Then we went to India and I came second with a wrong tire and was only 14 points behind. I hope that next season I can improve psychologically and I hope to be at the same level throughout the season. I promised my team that we would be champions one day, it wasn’t today and it might not be next year, but it will be soon.