Marco Bezzecchi “superb”, San Marino MotoGP tow unplanned - Jorge Martin

Jorge Martin has praised Marco Bezzecchi for the tow he was given in Practice at the San Marino MotoGP.

Bezzecchi, who himself drew positive conclusions at the end of Friday in Misano, had shown strong pace in his first time attack run of Practice, while Martin was outside the top-10 with a few minutes to go.

The Aprilia Racing teammates found themselves on-track together for their final time attacks and Martin was able to latch onto Bezzecchi’s rear wheel to set a time good enough for eight-fastest.

“Thanks to my teammate [Bezzecchi] because today was a superb job what he did,” Jorge Martin said after Practice in Misano.

“I think I did a great lap, anyway, because you have to do it.”

He added: “I saw Bezzecchi was one of the strongest. So, I said ‘Why not? I will go with my teammate’. 

“We didn’t speak before the Practice, I was just behind him, and he was superb. 

“I thought maybe he was going to close or go wide or something like this, but instead of that he was pushing like hell and it was difficult to follow him. So, it’s good, I think, for both of us.

“Thanks to Marco, but also it’s good because I understood some strong points, some weak points. 

“Even afterwards we were speaking, he was asking ‘How did you see this corner, how did you see this one?’ 

“We both want to be in the top, then if we have to fight during the race we will fight. But the important thing is that we are both in front and make the Aprilia stronger.”

Marco Bezzecchi verified Martin’s version of how the tow happened when he spoke after Practice.

“To be completely honest, it wasn’t planned,” the Italian said.

“Just we did a similar run plan with the tyres and everything, so we were always coming into the box and going out on track in a similar timing. 

“So, when I saw him starting with me for the time attack I said ‘I just try to do my job and try to watch myself,’ and then he followed me. It was not planned, but it worked well.”

From the TV images, Martin looked visibly more animated on the bike compared to Bezzecchi while they were lapping together.

This was down to Bezzecchi’s extra “confidence” with the RS-GP, Martin explained.

“He [Bezzecchi] has a lot of confidence with the bike,” he said.

“Already on the out lap, he was going away. So, I was already on the out lap trying to [ride as though] it was a real time attack. 

“So, when I started the lap I wasn’t that close, I was like half-a-second, so, when you are half-a-second, you try to make the time in braking and then you over-ride a bit. But, it’s what happened to me in the past in the races. 

“But the thing is that now I start over-ride less, everything becomes more natural. 

“So, for sure, he made the time more on corner speed and exit, I made the time in braking. So, I’m improving a lot that, where to make the time, but trying to not lose my strongest points.”

The reigning MotoGP World Champion added that he and Bezzecchi both used a different setup on one of their bikes in Practice, but only Bezzecchi stuck with it.

“Today, in the [afternoon], we tried two different bikes – we tried another setup, both of us,” Martin said.

“He stayed with it, I didn’t. 

“At the end, this is good because I’m still riding my bike, and now we are working around details, like millimetres. We are just changing millimetres. 

“This is good because it’s because we found a base. From here, I can say that we can continue developing now new pieces. 

“For sure, stability for me is an issue, but while riding doing pace, it’s less a problem than during time attack.”

Martin explained that it was not an easy session for him because of an exhaust issue that was only fixed before his time attacks.

“It was a difficult Practice for me, anyway, because I had some issues with the exhaust pipe, so, during my runs, I was struggling to stop the bike,” he said.

“In turn one, turn four, I couldn’t brake hard because I was going always wide because the rear was blocking. 

“Then they solved it for the time attack and I wanted to get a tow today because one of the targets was to improve qualifying.”

The issue made it difficult to properly assess his race pace, he explained.

“I feel my race pace is competitive,” said Martin.

“Tomorrow I will understand better because I had this problem with the exhaust pipe, so the rear was blocking and I couldn’t brake. So, if I wanted to do pace I was braking super-easy and I was losing maybe three-or-four-tenths in braking. 

“I guess my pace is maybe 1:31.6 or 1:31.7, and looking to the times this is maybe one-tenth from the fastest. So, it’s not bad. 

“I need to be really focused, try to not do more than I can in qualifying, whatever comes, seventh, eighth, ninth, fifth – I don’t know. I will try to improve tomorrow, but if I start well then I think my pace is to go with the front guys. 

“Anyway, no expectations. Whatever comes will be good. The target of the weekend, let’s say, I did it, that was improving qualifying and going through Q2. 

“Now, let’s see tomorrow, if I can get a tow from somebody it will be good; if not, I will try on my own and try to continue progressing because every day on this bike I’m making big steps. 

“Even today we were changing the position on the seat because now I’m using more and more my body and now I feel I was really tight so we took out some pieces from the back and this helped me also for braking because I can move my weight more on the rear and now everything gets more stable. 

“So, I still didn’t find my perfect position on the bike so it will come with time.”