‘We’ve seen this too many times from Jorge Martin’

Jorge Martin’s fall from the race lead at Sachsenring unsurprisingly headlined this week’s Crash.net MotoGP podcast.

The Pramac Ducati rider looked set to inflict a double defeat on title rival Francesco Bagnaia by backing up his Sprint victory in the grand prix.

But the reigning world champion put on a late charge to get within half-a-second of Martin, who then crashed out at Turn 1 on the penultimate lap.

The mistake not only cost Martin a chance at victory but handed Bagnaia the world championship lead heading into the summer break.

“It all just seemed to be going to plan for Jorge Martin,” said Podcast host Jordan Moreland. “And then in the blink of an eye, he loses the world championship lead to Pecco Bagnaia.”

“An early wedding present for Pecco, wasn't it,” replied Crash.net MotoGP editor Pete McLaren. “It was all shaping up to be a great last-lap battle. Pecco had closed to just half a second behind Martin, who then looked like he overdid it into Turn 1.

“We don't know exactly what happened because Martin hasn't had a chance to go through the data. But most of the other riders seem to feel it's just one of those critical corners and that if you overdo it into there, you've either got to commit or stand the bike up and run wide.

“Martin committed and ultimately it caught him out. The weekend was a tale of two right-hand corners really: Turn 11, with the Marc Marquez highside on Friday, and then Turn 1 with Martin.

“Both those moments conditioned the outcome because the only rider that was able to match Pecco and Martin’s lap times at the end was Marc Marquez. But he was starting too far back.

“Pecco now takes the championship lead, although he played it down saying that 10 points is practically zero at this stage. But it’s about momentum, isn't it?

“Martin had stopped his win streak in the Sprint, when he had been really smart with his strategy of leading early. But Pecco again learned from it and wasn’t goaded into pushing too hard when the Pramac riders overtook him 10 laps into the GP.

“Bagnaia stuck to his plan and the tyre he saved then maybe allowed him to put the pressure on Martin at the end.

“A big blow for Martin, obviously, but not a knockout blow at this stage.”

“It's not, but it's at the worst possible time, isn't it?” said Moreland. “Think back to Mugello when Martin had pretty much a grand prix worth of Sprint and Grand Prix points over Bagnaia, who has clawed it all back.

“And after winning the Sprint, for Martin to have this happen with just two laps to go. I think that’s the crucial thing. Had it happened with 15 laps ago. You could have said ‘it was just a mistake’. But it's a tough one for him to take isn't it? “

Crash.net Superbike/MotoGP reporter Rob Jones answered: “Yes. I think once Bagnaia got to within about 7-8 tenths, it sort of stabilised and it didn't look like Martin was on the limit at the time, but he was obviously setting a really strong pace.

“Maybe he was pushing a little bit too much and obviously that mistake came. But I think we've seen this too many times now.

“Indonesia last year when he was dominating again, leading every lap, having taken the championship lead on the Saturday with his Sprint win but then crashing in the Grand Prix, giving the advantage back to Bagnaia.

“Then crashing from the lead at Jerez earlier this season, leading every lap. He seems to have these races where it's all under control and for one reason or the other, he's just making a mistake at the most crucial moment.

“And every time Martin’s made the mistake, Bagnaia has won all three of those races. He's always there to take advantage.

“I think for Martin, knowing that Bagnaia is just never going away is potentially part of the problem. Why he's pushing so much, and why he feels like he has to be perfect every lap of every weekend just to try and win.

“I think we're seeing those sorts of cracks emerge when he’s trying to ride on that sort of limit, and it's just a massive error. We're starting again from zero almost in the championship, but I think Bagnaia will feel he has a hold over Martin now.”