Explained: The error that Jorge Martin made to crash out of Spanish MotoGP
“If he was on the racing line, on the left, that wouldn’t have happened"
The precise error that caused Jorge Martin to crash out of the Spanish MotoGP has been analysed.
Championship leader Martin crashed out of the lead at Jerez, at the halfway stage, with Francesco Bagnaia directly behind him.
Bagnaia held off Marc Marquez for victory, to further punish Martin’s first error of the season.
“[Bagnaia] put the pressure on Jorge,” Sylvain Guintoli analysed for TNT Sports.
“He was in his slipstream, on his side a little bit on the straights, on the approach to Turn 6.
“That pressure made Martin make a mistake.
“He was trying to cover and he was going to the right side of the track, then coming back to the left, that stopped the rear slip. That’s why he crashed.
“Jorge is trying to cover the inside. So he’s going to the right of the track.
“He starts coming back to the left, braking. That means his rear tyre steps out of shape really, really late.
“Then recovers the grip, and that pushes the front and makes him crash.
“If he was on the racing line, on the left, that wouldn’t have happened.
“On the left he would have got rear slip, rear slide, on braking very early on, then carrying it into the corner.
“He wouldn’t have inconsistency of rear slip, and no push to the front tyre.
“It was Pecco putting pressure on Jorge, and making him make a mistake.”
Michael Laverty said about Martin: “He looked like he was so strong. On the brakes into Turn 6, he was probably the strongest rider out there.
“But he asked too much. The front tyre locked on him.
“Jorge has been the man in control this season. This is his first indiscretion.
“He’ll be feeling it tonight. Frustration, more than anything.
“But he can hold his head high. He hasn’t got the MotoGP podium around Jerez but he was certainly fast enough for it.”
Pramac rider Martin remains at the top of the MotoGP standings despite a point-less grand prix at Jerez.
He is now 17 points ahead of factory Ducati rider Bagnaia, the reigning champion who edged him to last year’s title.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
