Following on from his victory at the Indonesian GP, which ended a drought that had lasted for him since the French GP, Jorge Martín returned to Japan for an event that had smiled on him last year. He won everything at the time, from pole to overall victory through the sprint, taking another step towards a title that he hoped to be able to challenge at Pecco Bagnaia. Finally, their duel ended in the last race, due to an error from the Spaniard.
Today, the situation is significantly different since it is he who leads the general classification, certainly with a still small lead of 21 points but sufficient to have the psychological advantage, his opponent frankly noting that he lacked consistency against the ‘Spanish.
“For me, it’s a pleasure to be here again with Pecco. I remember well the last part of last season, when we were always doing shoots and press conferences together. It’s good to be there again, and I think it is for both of us because we were once again the best among all the drivers”, observes the Pramac pilot.
It was an important step that was taken in Mandalika, because the Indonesian GP not only marked Jorge Martín’s return to Sunday victory, it also seemed to remove two names from the list of candidates for the title with the retirements of Enea Bastianini and Marc Márquez.
“I’ve been thinking for a long time that it’s going to be between me and Pecco for the title. There are still five races left, so the challenge is still there for them. They can do it, that’s for sure; if anyone can doing it is good for them. However, it seems more difficult and I think it will be between Pecco and me.”
“I will try to win, I will give 100% as always”, promises Martín, who does not want to be distracted by the announcement of a rainy weekend, judging that it is “too early” to establish the slightest strategy in relation to the conditions. “At the moment I don’t want to think so much about the title, but more about doing my best in all the race weekends. There are five races left so it doesn’t make sense to start controlling, it It’s more about doing a good job and taking points in every situation.”
His championship lead may have been reduced by three points in Lombok, but Martín believes he remains in a strong position. “Mandalika was a very intense weekend after my crash on Saturday and the fact that Enea and Marc were out of the race on Sunday,” he deciphers. “Last weekend was incredible. Even though I lost points in the championship I felt great after winning again. It’s been tough since Le Mans, a big roller coaster. Some Sundays I I was pretty close to winning but I made some mistakes, so it was a big emotion to win.”
“But now we’re starting from scratch. Last season doesn’t interest me much. It was good but the situation was different, I was behind and trying to attack. I won the sprint and the Sunday race but I think this time it will be different, it will be tough. I see that the weather seems quite unpredictable so it will be quite difficult. I will give the best of myself and we will see.
