Jorge Martin: Lot of riders can fight for MotoGP title, Pecco still favourite
"Pecco is still the favourite. He's the number one."
After three rounds of the 2024 MotoGP season, Jorge Martin leads the standings with 80 points, aided by three wins and five podiums from the six races.
To put that into perspective, Martin - who finished title runner-up to Francesco Bagnaia last season - scored just 29 points from the opening three events of last year and was eleventh in the standings.
At this time last year, Marco Bezzecchi held the title lead with 64 points with Bagnaia in second on 53 points. The factory Ducati star is currently fifth on 50 points.
Martin insists he’s not yet thinking about the 2024 title and still puts Pecco as favourite alongside a trio of other top rivals, but ‘history’ shows the champions have been consistent.
“For sure I don't look at [the title] at the moment. I don't like to think about that, but the points we're doing are for that reason. I'm happy that we have 80 points already. It's quite a lot!” said the Pramac Ducati rider.
“So we need to be happy and keep going in this way because we are working quite well, just focusing on ourselves, trying to improve the results from last season.”
The 26-year-old added: “I think there are a lot of riders that can fight for the championship and Pecco is still the favourite because he won last season. He's the number one.
“The rivals are strong. We have Marc, even Pedro is really, really, really good and constant. So we never know. Enea is also super strong for all the weekends. So the important thing is that we are fast everywhere and we need to be focused on that.
“It’s history, that all the champions were constant. So we need to be constant. I think we are doing a great job, 5 podiums out of 6. So we need to keep this way of working and if a bad weekend is 4th place, I can be super happy and when I have the chance I have to go for the win. That's my target.”
One name not mentioned by Martin was Aprilia's Maverick Vinales, who has now won three races this season and climbed to third in the points, 3 behind Bastianini and 24 from Martin.
Martin will be seeking his first Jerez MotoGP podiums during next weekend’s Spanish MotoGP, having finished fourth in both the Sprint and Sunday race last year.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
