Martin's pride amid pain and overtakes: “Passing Marquez is different”

Jorge Martin fought like a hero in the MotoGP Sprint in Qatar. Starting from eleventh on the grid, he staged a spectacular charge through the field to finish third, battling a still-painful wrist and carefully managing every effort on his Aprilia. It was a podium finish that felt every bit like a victory.

Choosing the soft tyre for the Lusail GP Sprint proved to be a winning gamble. The Spanish Aprilia rider did everything he could to keep his MotoGP title hopes alive, but struggled to make up ground on the opening lap. When Race Direction red-flagged the race on lap two following Pecco Bagnaia's crash, Martin ignored Aprilia's advice and switched from the medium rear tyre to a soft.

At the restart, he quickly fought his way onto the podium and even managed to put Marc Marquez under pressure. "It's a shame that 'DiGia' passed me at the end, but that's racing, and that's fine. But honestly, for me, this is already a victory," Jorge Martin admitted. His pace faded in the closing laps, and Fabio Di Giannantonio of the VR46 Ducati team overtook him to snatch second place. "I tried to defend until the end, but I didn't have what it took to fight him."

There was plenty to discuss after the Qatar Sprint, starting with Bagnaia's nasty crash after a collision with Fermin Aldeguer. "First of all, I want to send Pecco my very best wishes," the number 89 rider continued. Then Marco Bezzecchi went down after Marc Marquez made contact with him. “I didn't see it because I was behind Di Giannantonio. I saw them make contact. I thought they would both crash. But I tried to avoid Bezzecchi, who was on the ground, and took the opportunity to pass Di Giannantonio. From there, I passed Marc. I gave it everything. At least, I'm sure the fans watching at home enjoyed it, and that's what matters."

Bezzecchi's crash opened the door for Jorge, while Marc Marquez had to continue with his airbag deployed. "Yes, I saw that Marc's airbag had gone off and that he wasn't losing much time, but I told myself, now or never. I had to try. It's true that passing Marc isn't the same as passing the others, because with the others I could overtake and pull away. But when you pass Marc, he always fights back. I tried to hold on until the end, hoping he would make a mistake, but he didn't, and well, that's racing. I gave it everything. For me, being here today talking to you with a Michelin cap on is already a victory, so I'm very happy," 'Martinator' concluded.

The past two weeks have been extremely demanding for Jorge, focused on getting back to full fitness. The fracture to his right radius remains a thorn in his side, preventing him from giving his all and forcing him to live with the pain. Repeating today's performance in the longer race will be no easy task. The MotoGP title is now slipping into Marquez's hands... "It's clear that things are getting more and more difficult. In the end, all I can do is focus on riding as well as I can and scoring as many points as possible. The rest is out of my hands."

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