‘Strong, fast’: Martin the hunter again after ‘shortest title lead in history!’

Four days on from his race-leading accident at Mandalika, Jorge Martin was at least able to crack a joke: ‘It was the shortest MotoGP title lead in history!’

Peter McLaren

19 Oct 2023

The Pramac Ducati rider was referring to having taken the world championship advantage less than 24 hours earlier, with his sixth win in seven races during the Indonesian Sprint.

Sprints were only introduced this season, meaning that previously a rider would have held the title lead for at least one week.

“I think it was the shortest title lead the history, less than 24 hours!” Martin said at Phillip Island, venue for this weekend’s Australian MotoGP.

“Hopefully I can recover those points. It will be super nice to at least have the chance in Valencia to fight for the championship.

"Everything can happen. I will just try to be competitive.”

The young Spaniard, who had hauled his way to the top by bridging a 66-point deficit to Francesco Bagnaia, is grateful he can quickly switch his focus to Phillip Island.

“For sure it was not easy after the race, that evening I was thinking a lot [about the mistake]. But I'm lucky that we have this race straight away. Let’s try to do well here,” he said.

“I think we don't have to change anything. We are competitive every weekend, we are almost always fighting for the win.

“I'm confident overall, in all the areas. I feel that I'm strong. I am fast. So I have to be calm and take profit of this speed. For sure maybe not too much like I did in Indonesia!

“But at the point I crashed, I had 3 seconds [lead], so I have to be a bit more calm and try to finish all the races.”

Now 18 points behind Bagnaia, Phillip Island is famous for producing a big pack of leading riders, meaning another big potential points swing is possible.

Martin lost out last year, finishing seventh despite starting on pole position with a new lap record.

“Here is really particular. Last season, even if I did the record, the race is a completely different story. It's really difficult to pull away. So let's try to be a bit more stronger in the fight than last season, when I struggled a bit in braking.

“For us, battling for a championship, maybe it's better to try and make a fast race, so the group is not 15 riders, only five or six. Let’s see on Sunday.”

While fine weather is predicted for Friday and most of Saturday, Sunday is forecast to see wind gusts of up to 80km/h.