Jorge Martin ecstatic as he calls Portimao win ‘the most mature’ of his MotoGP career

Pramac Ducati rider Jorge Martin was brilliant on Sunday as he led every lap of the Portimao MotoGP.

Martin, who claimed third in the sprint race, took the holeshot from third on the grid and controlled the gap back to Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini.

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With Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia, two riders expected to be rivals for the title taking each other out, Martin had a glaring opportunity to take advantage which he did as the Spaniard put 33 points between himself and Bagnaia.

A circuit that nearly ended his career in 2022 when he suffered nine broken bones following a crash at turn seven, Martin called his race win the ‘most mature’ of his career.

Martin said: “I think it’s the most mature. This is a track where I almost lost everything in 2021. I broke nine bones in corner seven.

“Today I’m here in the first place. I’m grateful for the track. I think this gives me a lot of maturity for the future also. 

“Today, taking the lead at the beginning was a bit easier because I could manage at the beginning.

“So, as soon as they were catching, I had this small margin of maybe one tenth or half a tenth, and every lap was faster than the one.

“Every lap was faster than the one before. I was comfortable but maybe with five laps to go I could do [1m] 38.5s because I still had something else to push to the limit.

“It was a really comfortable race, let's say, because when you take the lead at the beginning it is easier.”

Joining Martin and Bastianini on the podium in Portimao was rookie sensation Pedro Acosta, who like Martin claimed P3 in just his second MotoGP race.

Asked if he was surprised to see Acosta on the podium this early into his premier class career, Martin said: “I’m not surprised. He reminds me a bit of myself because I was also third in my second race.

“He will be one of the toughest guys to beat in the future but it’s not a surprise because we all knew he had the talent.”