Jorge Martin: “Not a drama” as perfect podium run ends at COTA

Title leader Jorge Martin’s pair of qualifying accidents came back to haunt him in Sunday’s Americas MotoGP at COTA.

While starting sixth on the grid was surmountable, as he had proven with a podium in the Sprint, the Pramac Ducati rider paid the price for lost practice time on the medium rear tyre.

In a race that saw the top two of Maverick Vinales and Pedro Acosta run the harder rubber, Martin spent the closing stages battling fellow GP24 rider Enea Bastianini to be the best of the ‘softs’ in third.

Bastianini made his move with just over two laps to go, meaning Martin’s perfect five-race run of podium finishes this season came to an end.

“I knew from yesterday that it would be a difficult race, the rivals were really strong,” Martin said.

“The two crashes I had [in qualifying] gave more consequences in today's race because I didn’t have the chance to try the medium compound, so I went into the race with the one I know better: the soft.

“I made a mistake which allowed my rivals to reduce the gap from myself.

“At that point, it was too risky to push, so it's fine to get a fourth position on a track quite complicated for me, and it is not a drama to miss out on the podium for the first time this season!”

Martin will return to Europe leading the world championship standings by 21 points from Bastianini, with COTA winner Vinales 24-points from the top.