Martin: “Nobody was close to my pace”, Mandalika crash ‘not a disaster’

Martin had built a three second lead over Maverick Vinales, before throwing away the chance of winning his fourth consecutive race at turn 11.

The Spaniard was slightly wide heading into right-hander which led to him losing the front-end of his Ducati due to dirt that was off the racing line.

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“Was a great race until that point,” Martin told MotoGP.com. “I was a bit wide into corner ten and thought there was dirt and I was right. 

“The next corner I crashed. It was a pity because it was the only mistake I made in the 13 laps I did. I was committed, focused and everything was going well. 

“I’m happy that I’m the fastest and today nobody was close to my pace. I’m happy we have this speed. 

Although Martin was continuing to open the gap over Vinales and title rival Francesco Bagnaia, Martin always felt under control before his mistake.

“I was in full control of my bike, my tyres and was feeling confident,” added the Pramac rider. “This is racing and it can happen. 

“We still have ten races so there is still a long way to go. If it was the second to last race then maybe I would see it as a disaster.”

Martin, who had taken over the championship lead for the first time in his career thanks to winning the sprint race, has now fallen 18 points behind Bagnaia after the Italian went on to win the race. 

Desperate not to repeat his mistake, Martin said his approach might change if he finds himself in a similar position.

Martin said: “For sure, I was just trying to manage. But there were still 14 laps to go so it was still a long race. 

“But I will learn from my mistake and next time I have three seconds I will slow down a bit.”