Jorge Martín crossed the finish line of the Sprint race at the MotoGP Malaysian GP in second place, just behind Álex Márquez. Thus, he managed to beat Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), with his championship rival finishing in third. However, he wasn’t entirely pleased with the result.
The Prima Pramac Spanish rider told the press that he made a mistake in braking for the first corner: ‘I think the start wasn’t the best one, but I think it was more the braking than the start. I braked a bit too early, trying to be in a safe mode, but I was fourth in the first lap. So we need to improve for tomorrow, for sure’.
Regarding his disappointment, Martín explained that it relates to the belief that he had the potential to secure the victory: ‘It’s not about the championship. I thought I could win today. When I overtook Álex because he did a mistake, then he was kind of aggressive, but I thought I was faster than Pecco than I was at that point. So, I thought I would overtake him and pull away, but finally Álex had something else today for sure, he was faster than us. But I was able to recover’.
According to the rider with number 89, the position after the start made his task difficult, with an increase in pressure on the front tyre: ‘Starting from the beginning, my front pressure went crazy, so high, because we were expecting to be first or second and I was fourth, so everything got so complicated. And when I got used to that, to ride in a different way, I was able to recover the gap with Pecco and then pull away, that was the most important. I thought he would stay so close to me and he didn’t. I’m happy with this and let’s see if tomorrow we can also make the gap’.