Jorge Martin admits “ghosts on my mind” in Indonesian MotoGP

MotoGP championship leader Jorge Martin says previous crashes at the Indonesian Grand Prix left him with “some ghosts on my mind” on his way to victory on Sunday.

2024 MotoGP Indonesian GP race results

The Pramac rider crashed out of a commanding lead in the 2023 Indonesian GP, while on Saturday this year he fell from first on the opening lap of the sprint.

Leading from pole on Sunday for the 27-lap grand prix, Martin “got revenge” on the Mandalika circuit to score his third main race win of the season.

Speaking after the race, Martin says the memories of previous crashes weighed on his mind midway through the grand prix. 

“Yeah, I got revenge from Mandalika,” Martin, who has grown his championship lead again, said.

“After last season’s crash, today was a difficult race, and after yesterday’s crash also.

“After 13 laps I had some ghosts on my mind in corner 11, and then every lap in corner 16.

“I was trying to be really careful. We had a lot of wind from the side in that part.

“I was struggling to turn, it was like if I was riding a scooter. I know I was losing a lot in that part to Acosta, but I was thinking ‘Ok, if I lose here I push in other parts’.

“So, I think I was really careful understanding the situation at the start of the race and then trying to push a bit more every lap.

“Acosta was incredible, he was pushing. Even the laps that I was trying to make a gap, he was staying at under one second.

“So, for sure he is strong and I’m happy I performed really good.”

Martin had pressure from Tech3’s Pedro Acosta in the first half of the race, with his lead coming down to under eight tenths at one stage.

The Pramac rider eventually took the chequered flag 1.4s clear, though it did swell to well over two seconds before Martin backed off on the final lap.

“I mean, I tried to be calm always,” he added.

“I tried to be my best version, and even if the rider behind is one tenth or eight, it’s important to do the same things.

“I didn’t try to change or push more or less. I was at my maximum, so it was Pedro who was catching and making mistakes.

“I was trying to do always the same thing. This is the way I try to perform to be better.”

Martin’s championship lead is provisionally at 21 points, though an impending tyre pressure investigation could demote Acosta out of second and promote Francesco Bagnaia.

This would see Martin’s championship lead shrink to 17 points over Bagnaia.