MotoGP champion Jorge Martin involved in messy Spanish TV spat
Martin caught in middle of TV interview contract wrangling
New MotoGP world champion Jorge Martin was caught in the middle of a contractual dispute between two Spanish TV broadcasters over an interview slot.
Martin was crowned MotoGP world champion for the first time in his career last weekend at the 2024 season finale.
He becomes the first rider in the modern era to win the championship for an independent team, and is also Ducati’s third MotoGP title winner.
Martin was due to appear on Spanish TV show La Revuelta on Television Espanola, which was set up this year as a rival to long-running rival El Hormiguero.
But Martin was forced to cancel his appearance on La Revuelta due to contractual pressure from El Hormiguero while sat in the dressing room for the former.
It appears the contractual wrangle centres on the fact that Atresmedia, which El Hormiguero is part of, also has a deal with Dorna Sports to show free-to-air coverage of some races on La Sexta.
“Today Jorge Martin, MotoGP world champion, was going to come, who, in fact, is down here, in the dressing room,” La Revuelta host David Broncano said.
“But half an hour before starting he told us that El Hormiguero found out that he was coming.
“And since they don't want any guest to appear here, rather than there, they have pulled their strings, with the ways of pressuring that they have, and Jorge has told us that he can't do the interview.
“He has told us that he cannot appear on the show because, otherwise, some things would happen.”
El Hormiguero posted its own statement over the incident, saying: “It has been a misunderstanding of no major importance.
“Two weeks before the final [MotoGP round], we had agreed to have Jorge Martin exclusively on our program.
“Today, one of their representatives made a mistake by changing the visit they had scheduled with another rider.
“After what happened, Dorna, the organising company of the Motorcycle World Championship, contacted the representatives to resolve the situation.”
According to Autosport, El Hormiguero clocked the contractual clash after Martin posted a now-deleted tweet about his La Revuelta appearances.
La Revuelta issued its own brief social media statement defending Martin and his team, saying that they are not to blame for the situation.
"If there was any doubt, yesterday Jorge Martin and his team did everything possible to ensure that the interview could be broadcast," it read.
"They behaved impeccably and hopefully we can invite him back in the future and celebrate with him that he is world champion."
Martin himself tweeted: "Thanks to the whole La Revuelta team and the audience! It was a great night! I'll be back soon and we'll share it with the whole audience."
