Jorge Martín still believes in the World Cup. He won’t give up until the end, no matter how difficult the math makes it for him. “It’s complicated but better than yesterday,” he smiled after extending the fight this Saturday. With his ninth win of the year in the new sprint format, the 25-year-old driver from Madrid closed the gap to Pecco Bagnaia, the defending champion, to just 14 points. The Italian and Ducati mainstay, stiff during this Saturday’s short race, could only finish fifth and saw the Spanish candidate overtake him towards victory on the first lap, despite beating him a few hours earlier in the battle against the chrono However, the start from second place was of little use to him.
“I wanted to win, but we didn’t have the best cards, so we decided to take a risk,” explained the Pramac driver. His decision to install the soft rear rubber in order to be able to push as much as possible during the test was crucial. “It was beautiful, I really enjoyed today. “The team did a great job and we were once again the best,” he emphasized. Martín prefers to keep a cool head and not make films about the magnitude of the challenge. “I prefer not to imagine it. I hope it happens. It is the dream of my life and it is closer the closer I have come to it… but at the same time it is far away,” he emphasized.
The same result this Sunday (3 p.m., La 1, DAZN) would still give the defending champion the title, but Martín’s heart won’t let him give up. “I’ll give it my all, I have nothing to lose.” If he wins again in the long race and the Italian finishes sixth, the title would be his. The knowledge that nothing is impossible sent him into ecstasy after crossing the finish line. The fans in Cheste also believe in the Sorpass. “Yes we can, yes we can,” chanted the audience as the Pramac candidate celebrated his victory on the podium. Together with him, the KTM of Brad Binder and Marc Márquez took a wonderful mass bath in their last race with Honda. The eight-time world champion shed a few tears.
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It was not a day for the faint of heart in the garage of the Spanish title contender. The fight for pole position was unsuccessful and another tire problem, like what happened in Qatar, ruined his plans. After feeling strong vibrations on his first attempt, he only managed sixth on the grid, but he knew how to reset and give it his all in a Ricardo Tormo filled to the brim.
From right to left: Binder, Martín and Márquez, with Bagnaia in the background, at one point in the race. Biel Aliño (EFE)
Bagnaia looked determined at the start and took the lead from second place without batting an eyelid into the first corner. Martín also did well, came third and was soon able to show the bike to his big rival in the fight for the crown. Maverick Viñales, the author of the pole, broke away from the reigning champion and the Spaniard came from behind without any consideration. Their aggressiveness led to both overshooting at Turn 11, and Brad Binder and Marc Márquez slipped through that gap and took advantage of the tension for the title. It was exactly what the candidate needed: more pilots involved.
From then on, Bagnaia was left behind and Martín grew and moved forward, once again unbending in the explosive format of the sprint. In the second round he got revenge against Márquez, who had almost sent him off that morning when he followed him in the qualifying round. Then he knew how to take the time and keep his nerve to close the gap with a lead. When he caught up with the leading riders on the eighth lap, he only needed half of the short distance to overtake Viñales’ Aprilia and Binder’s KTM. The man from Madrid never looked back and galloped with determination until he crossed the finish line and completed the grand finale for the title.
No rider has ever had a match point due to a loss to his major rival on the same weekend. Psychologically, it won’t be easy to overcome the bad taste of such a recent defeat. “I hope to sleep, I managed to do that last year,” admitted the champion. “Ultimately, for six months I lost on Saturday and recovered on Sunday. I think that the pressure is similar for both and neither can fail,” the Turin native analyzed, undeterred whether he wins or loses. Tonight he will have dinner with the team and then watch a movie with Domizia, his fiancée, before going to bed. In his garage, the faces were long and the tension was clear. “We made a mistake in the choice of rubber,” everyone admitted. Those who wore the back tights suffered, and the three on the podium chose the soft option.
The Italian also had some luck when Fabio Quartararo crashed while overtaking on the fifth lap. A blow from the Frenchman would have sent him into the gravel trap and demanded even more of him this Sunday. “That was very close,” snorted the number one. Another who seemed to be doing him a favor and perhaps thinking about getting on a motorcycle for the last time next year was Fabio DiGiannantonio. The man from Gresini pushed his compatriot as he did a week ago in Qatar to win the first race of his life, but this time he remained steadfast behind his theoretical leader. Nobody knows if there were factory instructions on this matter, although Ducati has always defended that all riders are free to fight as long as they do not exceed the limits.
This Sunday, once again amid a sea of conflicting interests between the participants, the final fireworks display of the championship promises a spectacle that rivals one of the most exciting results in history. Martín fulfilled his plan on Saturday and it will only be worth it to stand on the podium and see what Bagnaia does. If he repeats the win, which is his most realistic option, the Turin native shouldn’t finish higher than sixth. So far, the defending champion has always been able to get up and react in long races. That’s been the script all year, but in MotoGP there are always unexpected twists and turns. It’s a movie ending.
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