Jorge Martín finished the MotoGP Malaysian GP race in second place, but he put up a fierce fight against the winner, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati). In one of the most intense duels of the season, the two riders exchanged positions multiple times, but the Italian ultimately secured the lead.
The Spaniard enjoyed this battle, noting that it was almost unprecedented between them and emphasizing the ever-increasing level:
– I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks to Pecco, because of his level I’m improving my level every day. Every day we are stronger and stronger. I think we had never had a battle like this in our entire career. For sure, we are always close, but we had never had a battle with 11 overtakes in three laps, as they told me. I felt I was strong to do that.
Then, Martín commented: ‘I think putting the medium front [tyre] was the best choice for me. Maybe it was a bit of a gamble for the first three laps, so it was really difficult to stop. But, anyway, I’m very happy that I have been able to attack Pecco. It’s really difficult to overtake somebody like him, he brakes so, so hard, and he can stop the bike really well. But I was able to do it’.