Martin: “I was more clever than him”, Espargaro ‘too clean’ in fight for podium

Jorge Martin says despite being slower than Aleix Espargaro during the closing stages of the MotoGP Sprint at COTA, managing to outthink the Aprilia rider was key to holding onto a podium.

Robert Jones

16 Apr 2023

Struggling with illness and crashing twice in Q2, Martin looked set for a very difficult Sprint race at the American MotoGP.

But that was far from the case as Martin made a brilliant start from 12th before moving into third following a mistake from Espargaro with a few laps remaining.

"I was struggling a lot in qualifying," said Martin after the race. "In FP3 I felt super confident and had a really good pace to the top guys and was feeling great.

"But I think the antibiotics did the work and in the race I was struggling a lot with my physical condition. Anyway, the team did a great job repairing both bikes and we were ready to race.

"We chose a bike that I thought was the good one but I had some issues in the race. Coming from 12th to third is not easy and I gave my 100%. Yesterday I was feeling worse so Sunday I should be feeling better to battle more."

In terms of the last-lap fight with Espargaro, Martin held on after managing to defend his position superbly.

Espargaro seemed to have greater speed mid-corner, but Martin remained unfazed by the Aprilia rider climbing all over the back of his GP-23.

Martin added: "As soon as I overtook him I felt so weak. I just waited for his manoeuvre. I was just going slow and braking hard and I could use that to beat him.

"I was super slow. But I was taking my time to understand how to manage the battle. It wasn’t easy but I was more clever than him."

Espargaro did attempt a move in the final sector but ran wide as a result of Martin position his Ducati in the middle of the circuit on the approach to turn 19.

Espargaro confessed he was ‘too clean’ when speaking to MotoGP.com: "I tried everything but I was too clean. He closed the line too much to avoid any contact and I was not able to go inside the corner.

"I lost the front and I knew that he would pass me again on the inside. But you have to try, you have to try until the end."