Метка: Pramac Racing

Why “mature” Martin will start to cause headaches in 2024 MotoGP title race

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The Spaniard holds a lead of 18 points in the championship after the opening two rounds of the season, marking the first time he has ever headed the standings for more than 24 hours.

Prior to Portugal, he led the championship on two occasions: once after the sprint race in Indonesia last year, before crashing while dominantly leading in the grand prix, and again after the Qatar GP sprint in 2024 before Francesco Bagnaia won on Sunday.

He branded his Portugal GP win as “really mature”, with that maturity borne out in the way he managed the race and being a key lesson he had learned from last year in action.

He reflected on his Indonesia defeat in 2023 when altering his approach to the Portuguese GP three weeks ago, two races that in many ways were identical.

In both, Martin was utterly dominant as the leader, controlling the pace and keeping enough in hand to stave off any assault the riders behind may have threatened.

In Indonesia, this gained him a lead of over three seconds before he crashed out in the latter stages – handing a crucial 25 points to title rival Bagnaia at the time.

There was no repeat of this in Portugal at the end of March this year, with Martin managing things better to inflict maximum damage on reigning champion Bagnaia after his controversial tangle with Marc Marquez.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“For sure, when they were three, two tenths [behind], it wasn’t easy,” he said when speaking about Portuguese GP rivals Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini.

“But when I got that gap to seven tenths, then I said ‘Ok, now it’s time to keep this gap [stable]’. I remember Indonesia, and I thought it’s the same winning with eight tenths as with three seconds.

“Today it was enough. If they caught me one tenth, I would push one tenth. I had that margin to push a little bit more. I’m super happy because I think it’s a super mature one.”

Already after two rounds of the 2024 season, Martin is on 60 points and is at a 30-point-per-weekend pace following a GP win and a third in the sprint, as well as a sprint win in Qatar and third in the GP.

After two rounds last year, Martin had only scored 22 points – though his incident with Marc Marquez in the Portuguese GP has a hand in this tally. Regardless, there was no bounce back in Argentina, where he was only eighth in the sprint and fifth in the GP having been second in the Portugal sprint.

The king of the sprint format in 2023, winning nine of them, Martin feels the GP24 is working better in the longer-distance races than in the short Saturday contests.

But if the damage limitation is podiums every time, the consistency that ultimately stopped him short of the title last year looks to be eradicated.

While all eyes will be on Marc Marquez in this weekend’s Americas Grand Prix, at a circuit he is typically guaranteed to win at, it is Martin who looks like the most dangerous threat coming into the third round of the year. 

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Pramac’s Morbidelli still «missing freedom» on Ducati MotoGP bike

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The three-time MotoGP race winner endured a difficult Portuguese Grand Prix weekend despite making a step forward with his understanding of the GP24.

Qualifying in 17th, Morbidelli finished 18th in the grand prix after crashing on the opening lap in an incident that left Honda’s Joan Mir unhappy.

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Morbidelli’s transition from Yamaha to Ducati for 2024 has been hugely affected by the concussion he suffered in a training crash that forced him to miss all of pre-season testing.

As such, Morbidelli says he isn’t able to ride the GP24 by instinct at the moment and is thinking too much about the process.

«What I’m missing the most now on the bike is knowledge and freedom of doing things by reflex,» he said.

«I need to think too much about engaging the devices, on the gear lever, which is different to what I’m used to.

«I’m thinking about things right now and not focusing on riding and maximising the riding. But that’s what happens when you don’t have kilometres. We are lacking that.»

Franco Morbidelli, Pramac Racing

Franco Morbidelli, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Morbidelli declined to offer comparisons between the Yamaha and the Ducati bikes out of respect but did state that he was «impressed» by the fact his pace in the Portuguese GP was good enough for the top eight despite his limitations.

«I don’t want to make comparisons because it wouldn’t be fair,» he said when asked to compare the M1 and the GP24. «I like to remain gentlemanly on this.

«What I can say is that I feel good with this bike, very good. If you check out the rhythm also on the race, riding without freedom and thinking about many things, so riding with margin, the rhythm was still good, was still good enough to be sixth, seventh.

«That was the most impressive, I was impressed by that. I feel very good with the package and I feel a lot of potential with the package.

«It’s a matter of getting used as much as possible to being on the bike and in the shortest time possible to take out the maximum potential of the bike, which I’m still not doing.»

Watch: MotoGP: Jorge Martin masters Portimao | 2024 #PortugueseGP



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Portugal MotoGP win “amazing” at a track “where I almost lost everything”

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The 2023 championship runner-up put in a controlled performance last Sunday in Portugal to score his first grand prix win since last year’s Thailand GP.

With erstwhile championship leader Francesco Bagnaia crashing out in a controversial tangle with Marc Marquez, Martin now leads the standings by 18 points.

Martin says defending the lead he took from third on the grid at Turn 3 on the opening lap was “key” to a win that proved to be somewhat emotional for the Spaniard.

In his rookie year in 2021, he suffered a violent incident in practice at Turn 7 at the Algarve track in which he sustained multiple fractures that almost curtailed his career.

“I think this consistency is the most important thing and today the key thing was the start,” Martin told MotoGP’s After the Flag on Sunday.

“I was really committed to take the lead in the first corner and then I tried to close a lot on the third corner because I knew it was my key to win.

“I tried to manage a bit at the beginning, taking those two, three tenths to maintain the lead.

“And as soon as I started to push I saw nobody, they weren’t able to close that gap. As soon as they closed a little bit, I pulled again. So, it was a really mature Sunday, mature win.

“I’m really happy and proud of the team and the job we’re doing. The new Ducati is better on Sundays than Saturdays.

“To win here, at a track where I almost lost everything, I almost stopped racing and now I’m here in first place. 

“This is amazing and I’m so grateful to this track because I learned a lot.”

Marshals and Mediacal team at Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing after the crash

Marshals and Mediacal team at Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing after the crash

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

After the collision between Marquez and Bagnaia, which he saw on the big screens around the track, Martin says he knew he had to win the grand prix.

“About the incident, I saw it on the screen,” Martin said.

“And at that point I said ‘Jorge, you need to finish, 100%’. So, for two corners I was really blocked and then I said to myself ‘ok, today you need to win’. I didn’t care about finishing, just winning.”

Martin didn’t suffer from the rear chatter problems that plagued him in Qatar, but notes that the GP24 struggles more in sprints than it does in grands prix now.

“I think for us now, we need to understand why we suffer much more when we push from the beginning than when we can be smooth on the first laps,” Martin, who has the most sprint wins of anyone with 11, said when asked about rear chatter.

“So, in the beginning [of the grand prix] I was smooth even if we push in the first laps.

“I was really relaxed and as soon as I started pushing I had that thought in my mind that maybe the vibrations were arriving.

“But finally they didn’t. Now we need to check for Saturdays because the sprint now is our weak point. So, let’s be focused on that and try to fix that.”

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