Martin: “I was more clever than him”, Espargaro ‘too clean’ in fight for podium

Struggling with illness and crashing twice in Q2, Martin looked set for a very difficult Sprint race at the American MotoGP. 

But that was far from the case as Martin made a brilliant start from 12th before moving into third following a mistake from Espargaro with a few laps remaining.

• Alex Marquez vomited in his helmet before crashing: “As if the body collapsed” 
• Bagnaia, Rins, Martin private chat revealed: "I almost took you out!"

"I was struggling a lot in qualifying," said Martin after the race. "In FP3 I felt super confident and had a really good pace to the top guys and was feeling great. 

"But I think the antibiotics did the work and in the race I was struggling a lot with my physical condition. Anyway, the team did a great job repairing both bikes and we were ready to race. 

"We chose a bike that I thought was the good one but I had some issues in the race. Coming from 12th to third is not easy and I gave my 100%. Yesterday I was feeling worse so Sunday I should be feeling better to battle more."

In terms of the last-lap fight with Espargaro, Martin held on after managing to defend his position superbly. 

Espargaro seemed to have greater speed mid-corner, but Martin remained unfazed by the Aprilia rider climbing all over the back of his GP-23. 

Martin added: "As soon as I overtook him I felt so weak. I just waited for his manoeuvre. I was just going slow and braking hard and I could use that to beat him. 

"I was super slow. But I was taking my time to understand how to manage the battle. It wasn’t easy but I was more clever than him."

Espargaro did attempt a move in the final sector but ran wide as a result of Martin position his Ducati in the middle of the circuit on the approach to turn 19.

Espargaro confessed he was ‘too clean’ when speaking to MotoGP.com: "I tried everything but I was too clean. He closed the line too much to avoid any contact and I was not able to go inside the corner. 

"I lost the front and I knew that he would pass me again on the inside. But you have to try, you have to try until the end."