If during the weekend of Aragon MotoGP Grand Prix, we noticed the transformation of the
hot and fiery Jorge Martin as a reasonable and almost calculating pilot, the rest of his journey was not free from some blunders usually the prerogative of beginners, including son the Mandalika circuit, but the Indonesian Grand Prix itself showed that the World Championship leader was still at the top of his game, despite the pressure inflicted by rookie Pedro Acosta.
It is with a 24-point lead in the championship that the Madrilenian now goes to Japan, where he did the double last year.
As usualwe report here his words during the press conference, without the slightest formatting, even if it is translated from English.
Ladies and gentlemen, we will begin the post-race press conference for the Pertamina Indonesia Grand Prix, Pertamina Mandalika Circuit, Round 15. Congratulations to Jorge Martin, race winner for Prima Pramac Racing, and Pedro Acosta , second for Red BullGASGAS Tech3, who occupied the first row to the right of the starting grid, Pedro Acosta who is the winner in Moto2 here last year, and to complete today’s top 3, the champion of reigning world champion of the Ducati Lenovo team, Pecco Bagnaia. Gentlemen, congratulations to all three, the conditions were very difficult this afternoon, it was hot, humid and very, very windy too.
Jorge, we will start the press conference with you. After all the drama last year, after all the drama yesterday, I think we can finally say that you are Mandalika’s master and you have taken your revenge on Mandalika. Congratulations !
Jorge Marin: “Yes, that’s true. Thank you, thank you. It’s certain that I took my revenge. Because after yesterday’s crash, but also last season’s crash, you know, it was the mental side, I think, that was really complicated. In the thirteenth round, I started having dark thoughts, I don’t know how to say in English, but about last season. But then I went through that part of the race and everything was fine, and then coming to the penultimate corner, turn 16, I really tried to manage it well, trying to close the line quite right so as not to make the same mistake as yesterday. So I’m happy to have improved from the mistakes I made last year. Every race weekend is different and this weekend maybe I was too confident. I felt really strong, everything was going so well that I was overconfident, and then I made a mistake. So I have to be more vigilant, let’s say, and we’ll see what we can do next time. »
It wasn’t easy, because the gentleman on your right was pressing you very hard: Pedro had a great race. The gap was reduced to 6/10 of a second at one point. Did you feel like you were still comfortably managing this lead?
“I was really confident until I was 1.4 seconds apart and then he caught me but I was pretty calm, trying to keep the same pace. He caught me by 0.6 seconds but at one point I found something else, I found a little more speed in the first fast part of the circuit. So I started to build a little gap, and I kept control while trying not to take all the risks. Sometimes I took some risks to try to increase the gap, but even if Pedro had won today I would have been happy with the result, because the important thing was to finish, to be confident and to achieve a good result. »
Is this the slowest turn 16 you’ve ever done here at Mandalika on this last lap, just to make sure you wouldn’t want to miss the celebration, Jorge, when you were with the Marshalls and you kissed the tarmac?
“So yeah, I think I wasn’t original because I did the same thing as Pecco in Montmelo after going through that corner. I don’t know if he stopped. I don’t remember if you stopped or not? On Sunday, when you won, at turn 5 did you stop or not? Yes, I wasn’t very original, but I stopped and kissed the ground (laughs). It was a little different, but for sure I think it’s even better when you fall and you win, than when you win every race, because the feeling is like revenge. So today it was a good feeling. And yes, with the Indonesian fans, it was difficult to leave because they were so close. But I’m happy to have been able to win it (laughs). »
It looks like the weather forecast for next week in Motegi is wet on all three days. The pressure you are under for the championship is enormous: how does this affect you?
“For my part, I will wait until Thursday to look at the weather, because I think that this season, apart from here, all the races have been announced as rainy, but there has never been rain. So I’m going to wait until Thursday. We will then see that the conditions are always different. If it rains, it will be super difficult, especially for us because when you are fighting for a championship, everything becomes more tense or more oppressive. But last season it rained and it wasn’t a big problem. I think Motegi is a good circuit because if it rains I think the grip level is good.
So yeah, we’ll see, and as far as I’m concerned, I’ll wait a bit and maybe it will get better. »
Results of the 2024 MotoGP Indonesian Grand Prix in Mandalika:
Ranking credit: MotoGP.com
MotoGP Indonesia Martin
MotoGP Indonesia Martin
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