MotoGP Malaysia: ‘Disappointed’ Jorge Martin: ‘I tried to put pressure on Pecco’

Having beaten Francesco Bagnaia in the Sprint, Jorge Martin went into Sunday’s Malaysian MotoGP confident of trimming Bagnaia’s title lead down to single digits.
Jorge
Jorge

Instead, he spent most of the 20-laps watching helplessly as Bagnaia’s factory Ducati disappeared into the di🎉stance.

Martin briefly led the ♏field into Turn 1 but ran wide and was passed by the factory Ducatis of Bagnaia and team-𝄹mate Enea Bastianini, plus Gresini’s Sprint winner Alex Marquez.

With Bastianini and Marquez edging away up front, Martin was at least on the rear wheel of Bagnaia. Martin, who began the race just 11 points behind the reigning✃ champion, then attacked at Turn 14 o𓆉n lap 3 and turn 4 on lap 4.

But each time Bagnaia repassed him firmly on the exit and Martin then remained strangely subdued🔯 in fourth for the remainder of the race, dropping every further back.

“After six laps I started to lose ground with Pecco,” Martin told MotoGP.com. “It was st𒆙ranꦫge because I tried to push and to put some pressure on him, so maybe he made a mistake, but at some point I started to be close to a crash.

“It's not what I wa🦋nted for sure, but I decided to close the throttle just to finish, it's the 🍌maximum I could do.”

All of which means he heads into Qatarඣ next week🔯end now trailing Bagnaia by 14 points.

“I’m a bit 🔜disappointed. I thought I was able to recover 🎃some points today. I was feeling great at the beginning of the race,” he said.

“I had to be happy with🎃 that P4. It’s not what I expected today. I expected to fight for at least the podium, or beat Pecco. But it is what it is and let's move on to the next one.”

With 74 points still available, the title fight remains well and tr𒊎uly ali👍ve, especially with Martin having proven speed in Qatar.

“I really like Qatar. I did two pole positions in the last two seasons andജ 🅘I did also a podium in my second race in MotoGP. So I'm really looking forward to it,” he said.

“We have to understand the new asphalt. Let's see with the tyres. But for sure i🍷t's a track where I am super fast.”

One positive for Martin, who hinted that his Buriram tyre pressure warning meant he had to start with higher tyre pressures at Sepang, which may have contributed to his lack of feeling in the grand prix, is that Bagnaia has now also used up his one 🔯‘off🍷icial warning’.

Peter has been in the paddock for 🦄20 years and has seen Valentinꩲo Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.

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