Jorge Martín finished the first day of the Catalan GP in 6th place overall. The Spanish rider continues to be very consistent and, despite only taking sixth place, he was only 0.231 thousandths behind first-placed Aleix Espargaró.
In his debrief, Martín spoke about his feelings from the first day of practice at the Montmeló circuit.
– It was a good day, I knew we had a lot of work ahead of us. We tried a new setup, some different things that we don’t normally do, but on this track we had to, because we had to close the gap to the Aprilia. I think it worked really well, so it was worth trying a change. I couldn’t push very hard on the attack lap, I decided to go with the changes but I was missing something. I think we suffer more from the lack of grip than the KTM or the Aprilia, we have to try to find the right balance for the bike.
Asked about the differences in speed on the circuits year after year and whether it causes more wear and tear on the riders, Martín replied: ‘The faster we go, the more physical it gets, because we brake later and have to push harder to stop in a shorter space, but physically I don’t think it will be a problem during the races. I’m physically prepared, at least I am, I’ve been training well and I’m ready.