Jorge Martin: “I'll do what I need to do to take this title”

Jorge Martin saw his first chance to win the 2024 MotoGP title slip away with victory for rival Francesco Bagnaia in the Solidarity Barcelona MotoGP Sprint.

Martin needed to outscore Bagnaia by two-points to secure the crown ‘early’ but instead conceded five points to his rival after a last-lap pass by the sister Lenovo Ducati of Enea Bastianini relegated Martin to third.

Starting fourth, Martin dived for the holeshot at Turn 1, but emerged behind the red machines after the opening corners.

The Spaniard then went back-and-forth with Bastianini, the rider he famously clashed with on the last lap of the Misano race, before establishing himself in second.

But he couldn’t close down Bagnaia and instead fell victim to a late retaliation by Bastianini at Turn 5. The ‘unexpected’ pass left Martin shaking his head, but he later paid credit to The Beast for an ‘amazing job’.

“It was a tense Sprint. First, with the tyre choice, I was a bit nervous because they told me Pecco was with the hard front, but I didn't know if I could trust the choice or not because he did [the late change] in Malaysia.

“So finally I looked to myself and said ‘what is the best tyre you can use in the race, medium’. So I went with the medium, but for sure at the end it was a bit on the limit.  

“I started quite well but maybe I was a bit optimistic in corner one, then I saw Enea passing so it was a bit of a mess! And after that I started a fight with him. We lost a bit of time and the chance to go with the Pecco.

“I think I had the potential to go a bit faster, but I used a lot of tyre with Enea. But finally I did my best trying to control a bit the risk and I think a podium today was really, really good job.”

The final pass by Bastianini had been “unexpected, I heard his bike from really far [behind]. I thought maybe he was crashing, so then I pulled up, just being prepared to go to the outside of the track.

“But he did an amazing job. He's doing his own battle with Marc, so I understand his battle and tomorrow will be a nice race. I hope to enjoy it and try to understand how to be a bit more competitive.”

Martin will start the 40th and final race of the season with a 19-point lead over Bagnaia, meaning even if the reigning champion wins, Martin only needs to finish in the top nine.

“The strategy I think must be the same, to try to be on the podium,” Martin said. “I need to control a bit more the risk but today I think the battle with Enea kept me quite concentrated all.

“So this is the target, to be concentrated, to enjoy and for sure if something happens in the last lap, I have to control the risk and don't enter in a fight.

“But I will do what I need to do to take this title.”

Given his points advantage, the biggest battle Martin faces on Sunday is arguably mental.

“I was quite nervous after qualifying, I didn't eat almost anything today,” he admitted. “So I was quite nervous at that point, but then I tried to sleep a little bit, have a cold shower. And for the race, I was quite calm. I was in a good moment.

“I wanted to see how my feeling was during the race and when I'm on the bike, everything is more or less under control. The feeling is there. 

"The last thing that remains a bit is the tyre choices for tomorrow. I think all of us will do the same. So just try to copy the opponents and that’s it.

“The plan is to do the same things as always tomorrow. I will try to be at my 100% and then if at the end I can manage [my points advantage], I will manage. And if not, I will push. It depends on the situation.

“For me it's difficult, for Pecco it’s difficult. But if I can finally close this title, it will be really emotional.”

Sunday’s grand prix will also be Martin and the Pramac team’s last race with Ducati.

Martin is joining Aprilia next season and looking to take the number one plate with him, while Pramac is switching to Yamaha.