Jorge Martin reacts to two crashes and podium fight with Marc Marquez
“It was a complicated race on a difficult track," says Jorge Martin who twice crashed in qualifying
Jorge Martin labelled his Saturday at the Americas MotoGP “complicated”.
Two crashes during qualifying at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas forced the championship leader to start the sprint race from sixth on the grid.
But from there, he managed to secure a podium finish behind winner Maverick Vinales and Marc Marquez.
“For sure, it’s important always, to keep progressing and to take some points,” Martin said.
“It was a tough day. But at the end we have a podium. I am super happy.
“I thought I’d be faster in qualifying. But with two crashes, it was really difficult.
“Starting sixth was not easy.
“I did some good moves on different riders. I overtook Aleix Espargaro, Pedro, Enea Bastianini.
“I feel confident that [on Sunday] I can be more competitive if I do a better start. Let’s go for a better result.”
Pramac’s Martin was involved in a battle with Gresini’s Marquez and Tech3 GASGAS’ Pedro Acosta over the two podium spots behind the winner Vinales.
Martin overtook Acosta but could not gain an extra place on Marquez, who fended him off in the latter stages.
“I thought I was going to be able to move on them, and pull a gap,” Martin reacted.
“Maybe I closed that gap too soon. Then I had issues with the rear.
“It was a complicated race on a difficult track.
“You need to look into the details. The rear tyre suffers a lot.
“Let’s see if [on Sunday] we can be more clever.”
Despite an edgy Saturday for the Pramac Ducati rider, he has extended his lead at the top of the MotoGP standings to 25 points, ahead of second-placed Bastianini.
Champion Francesco Bagnaia is 28 points behind Martin.
“I don’t care about this, at the moment,” insisted Martin.
“I don’t know how many races or weekends left…
“We took the maximum from the situation. “[Sunday] we need to do the same.”
A better start will be the key to Martin’s hopes in the grand prix at COTA.
But the red-hot Aprilia rider Vinales, who has now won consecutive sprint races, enters as the favourite.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
