“Last year I wasn’t ready to win”

Very composed, his face almost closed, Jorge Martín greeted his 12-0 of the day against Pecco Bagnaia with an apparent concentration pushed to the extreme. The Spanish driver did the job today, winning the Sepang sprint race, because he knows that it not only brought him maximum points but also pushed his rival to take maximum risks. And the fall of Bagnaia finally allowed him to take a huge step towards the title.

He has the opportunity to win his first MotoGP world championship title on Sunday, to be the first independent rider to achieve it, but what matters more than anything for Martín on the eve of this meeting is to stay on the rails which reassure him. A year after wavering under the weight of pressure, what he calls his “routine” is what led him to have this match ball today and he intends not to deviate from it.

Here's how Jorge Martín commented on his performance of the day… all in control.

How do you feel?

Good, very good. It was clearly a very important day. It was a difficult race, because it was very fast, much faster than last season. It's a rhythm that we haven't had at all all weekend. By being faster than the rest of the weekend, problems appeared that we didn't have yesterday or earlier today. After Pecco's crash, it was hard to deal with the situation, but I managed to do it well and I'm happy with this day.

What did you say to yourself when you saw what happened to Pecco? Should we continue to push, as if nothing had happened?

It happened so I didn't act like it didn't happen. You have to think about it, say to yourself “OK, Pecco has fallen… Be careful, you have to go to the end”. At one point, I even wondered if I should wait for Marc [Márquez] and finish second. But on the other hand, I had eight tenths [d’avance] so it didn't make sense to wait, so I said to myself “OK, keep doing what you know how to do, it's good”. I was just very focused on my braking references, to try to always do the same thing, without changing anything, and even like that, I increased my lead.

This gives me good information for tomorrow. I think it was important to finish today, in order to have more information because we are not used to doing these long relays, we don't have time [pendant le week-end]. As a result, a lot of problems appeared in today's race and it's important to have good information for tomorrow.

Pecco will take a lot of risks to win tomorrow. He has nothing to lose.

Do you think that with the experience you have today, you could have won last year?

I think last year I wasn't ready to win. I was fast but I wasn't ready, I was very scared and it had been a difficult moment. This season, I'm a little more mature. It's a privilege to be here at this stage, with this advantage, but it's not over until it's over so we have to stay focused for tomorrow.

It's going to be a very long race, I think Pecco will take a lot of risks to win tomorrow and it's very hard to beat him in these conditions. He has nothing to lose now, it's all or nothing. I will do my best. I think we're a step above the others, so worst case scenario I'll try to finish second and then we'll see.

Was turn 9 particularly tricky?

Yes, he was critical all weekend. I had some heat, yesterday in my time attack and also today. On the perfect trajectory, you have something like three different asphalts and at one point, there is no asphalt, it's like motocross. It's super difficult. You have to take a very precise line in this turn. I haven't seen the fall yet so I can't give my opinion on that but I also had some heat in this turn and sometimes I had to let go during the race, so as not to fall .

Do you feel like you can breathe a little more now, now that you have a 29-point lead in the championship?

I feel like when I breathe and try to be more relaxed, I get more nervous and everything becomes more difficult. This morning I was a little nervous so I told Gino [Borsoi] “I’m going to go.” I don't want to tell myself that I can finish second or third, I want to go there and if Pecco is stronger he will win, otherwise he won't win.

Tomorrow it will be a bit the same: I will try to get there and if Pecco is much stronger, OK, but I will give the best of myself. The only way for me to really be 100% and focused is to try to give my best, so that's what I'm going to try to do.

Has this season as a whole confirmed that the start is a key moment and that by putting yourself in front, you can more easily do what you want to do?

I think the tires matter a lot in this regard, because today, if I hadn't immediately taken first place, I think I wouldn't have won. Pecco would have won and I would have placed second. So strategy is very important, it’s very important to get off to a good start. Nowadays, you're either Enea [Bastianini] and you can move up, or it's impossible to win if you're not in first place at the start!