Martin: Last year ‘everything was unclear at this point’, not the case now

After leading the way for most of day one at the Sepang MotoGP Test, Martin was again the pace setter for much of days two and three, finishing Saturday’s action fastest.

Martin concluded the test in fifth, but that’s without the Pramac rider setting a time attack during the final two hours, which Luca Marini, Francesco Bagnaia, Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini did, all of whom finished ahead of the Spaniard.

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Martin was also having to ride with a bandaged right hand following his day two spill, and although he was unable to remove his glove for large parts of the day, Martin remained strong. 

"Was difficult to ride all day without taking off the glove because it was too hot and it was difficult to  keep a nice temperature on the hand," said Martin. "In any case, I was confident, had good pace and we reconfirmed the good things from the fairing that I felt yesterday. 

"I still have the two new versions to understand a bit but I found out which one is fitting best to my riding style. I’m happy about this. We are fast. 

"I cannot tell you which one but for sure one of them I feel comfortable with and it’s quite similar in terms of riding style to the old one. With the other version I feel like I’m struggling a bit more, not like Pecco who likes the other one, but I’m 100% focused on what I need."

With Martin focusing heavily on the new fairings that were introduced by Ducati, the former Moto3 champion was therefore able to identify the difference in performance right away. 

Martin added: "Straight away you feel the difference. It depends what you are looking for whether it’s stopping the bike or more turning. It depends on which you decide. 

"But in general they are all so close to the old fairing. Now we have to work on the small things but I feel comfortable with the one I chose."

Discussing the fairings even further, but also what he needs to work on during next month’s final pre-season test at Portimao, Martin stated that his level of comfort with one of the 2023 fairings has put him in a much better position relative to last season when he struggled during the early part of the season. 

Martin added: "Now, in this test we found out which fairing I need to use and at this point last year everything was unclear. 

"At this point I feel confident and we have a base for the bike. We need to find some good feelings on the front with the new pressure that is mandatory because we are used to having lower pressure. 

"We will work on this and try to find more rear grip for later in the race. This is what we will work on in Portimao."