You can understand why Jorge Martin looked the more nervous of the MotoGP title contenders early in the Solidarity Grand Prix weekend at Barcelona.
Everything to lose. A big enough points lead that to lose the title from here would’ve almost certainly been because he catastrophically blew it - something he’s got a bit of a reputation for. Trying to do what was always supposed to be impossible (winning a title as a satellite rider). No previous experience of defending a MotoGP points lead in a final-round decider. Only needing 14 points, but with plenty of potential to ride awkwardly and risk mistakes if he played it too safe.
You might expect that then losing second place on the final lap of the sprint to rival Pecco Bagnaia’s works Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini would’ve made Martin more anxious.
But post-race he sounded the calmest he had all weekend.
And that’s not just because he still has a 19-point lead and only needs ninth place tomorrow. The sprint proved that he can do what he needs to do: still ride like himself, but with enough control to pick his battles and see this historic title challenge through to the finish.
“I was quite nervous after qualifying,” said Martin, who blew his final pole bid at the first corner and started fourth.
“I almost didn’t eat anything today, my stomach was quite closed. So I was quite nervous at that point.
“But then I tried to sleep a bit, have a cold shower.
“And for the race I was quite calm. I was in a good moment.”
He initially described the race as “difficult” then corrected himself to “not difficult, but tense” and admitted that his big feeling afterwards was “relief”.
As Bastianini dived down his inside on the last lap, Martin was seen to shake his head. But this was only because he feared he was about to be wiped out, not anger at Bastianini or kicking himself for losing a place. Despite all his past frustration at Bastianini being the man who’d beaten him to works Ducati seat for 2023, there was no animosity over today’s battle.
“I heard his bike from really far away, so that’s why I was like ‘no, f**k’, because I thought he was maybe crashing or I don’t know,” Martin explained.
“Then I pulled up and was just being prepared for going to the outside of the track. But he did an amazing job. He’s still in a battle with Marc [Marquez for third in the points] so I understand his battle.”
Franco Morbidelli, Alex Marquez and Aleix Espargaro were all on the edge of Martin and Bastianini’s battle and Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta may well have been too but for their first-corner incident - prompting Martin to say “trust me, it was really difficult to be on the podium today”.
Tomorrow he doesn’t have to be. But he’s sure that not trying to be would only get him in more trouble. Ride like yourself - but know when to back out of it.
He’d hoped all weekend that once he was in a racing situation everything would be calm. And it was.
“It’s relief because I wanted to race, I wanted to see how my feeling was in racing. When I’m on the bike everything is more or less under control, the feeling is there,” he said.
And as part of that, he’s trying to ignore Bagnaia.
“Before the race with the tyre choice I was a bit nervous because they told me Pecco was with the hard but I didn’t know if I trusted the choice or not because he did it in Malaysia,” Martin recalled.
“Finally I looked to myself and said ‘what is the best tyre you can use in the race? Medium’. So then I went on medium.”
In retrospect he wasn’t sure that was the right choice as tyre wear was “on the limit” at the end when Bastianini caught him. But at least he’d made his own choice for his own reasons and not got outpsyched.
Bagnaia has repeatedly referenced his own angsty performance as he clinched his first title from a big points lead at Valencia two years ago. But he also thought Martin’s nerves eased once he was actually racing.
“I remember 2022 perfectly and I think Jorge is suffering a bit from the pressure, but it’s normal,” said Bagnaia, who dominated the sprint to close the gap to 19 points.
“I saw all the weekend he was quite nervous and this is something normal.
“But I think when he is racing he can manage the situation well.
“He did a very good job today. He managed to start in the second row and finish on the podium so I don’t think it will be that tricky tomorrow.”
One day to go. One more plan to execute.
“The strategy I think must be the same: to try to be on the podium,” said Martin.
“For sure controlling the risk. I need to control the risk a little more.
“But today I kept being quite concentrated all the time. This is the target: to be concentrated, to enjoy it, and for sure if something happens on the last lap I have to control the risk and don’t enter into a fight.
“I will do what I need to do to take this title.”
