Jorge Martin: “Luckily Raul is on an Aprilia”, talks MotoGP top speed record

Jorge Martin plans to learn from the only rider to beat him in Saturday’s Mugello MotoGP Sprint race.

That was race winner Raul Fernandez who, luckily for Martin, also rides for Aprilia, meaning he can access all of his fellow Spaniard’s data.

After narrowly escaping Qualifying 1 on Friday, Martin and Aprilia made a big step on Saturday, when RS-GPs filled the front row in qualifying.

Title leader Marco Bezzecchi began on pole, but Fernandez and Martin were soon in a class of their own.

“Yesterday I had a strange feeling with the front,” Martin explained of his Saturday progress. “I improved this morning, but I was always alone, so as soon as I was behind someone in the race I started to have some issues.

“So we need to understand how I can improve. Luckily Raul is on an Aprilia, so I can look at all the data.

“Even if I was behind, I saw that Turn 4, Turn 6, he was stronger than me. I know a bit how we can improve, but to make the step to win will be tough.”

Martin admitted he needed to rebuild his confidence after a ‘disastrous’ weekend in Catalunya, which included a costly tangle with Fernandez in the grand prix.

“Every lap I get more confidence. Barcelona was a real disaster for my confidence and yesterday every time I got to a braking point, I thought I was going to crash.

“So not crashing helped me to build again the confidence, and today's race was important, because I started to feel the limit.

“I hope that tomorrow we can move the limit forward and be a bit faster.”

Trackhouse rider Fernandez and factory star Martin were the only riders to pick the medium rather than soft rear tyre.

“It was the right choice,” said Martin. “For me, it was about feeling, because the degradation is the same with the medium, because you spin a bit more.”

Martin will start the grand prix 12 points behind Bezzecchi, who finished fourth in the Sprint.

New MotoGP top speed record

Earlier in the day, Martin broke the all-time MotoGP top speed record with a lightening 368.6km/h in final practice.

“I exited super good from the last corner; I was behind Marini and Bastianini,” Martin recalled. “There's a bump that I really did it perfectly, so I didn't wheelie, and I started to catch them, and I said, ‘OK, I won't brake until the last moment’.

“I knew I was fast, and when I went into the box and I saw the speed. I was impressed. I did the record in 2022, now again. I hope that tomorrow we don't improve it, so it will stay for 6 or 7 years.”

MotoGP is moving to smaller 850cc engines next season, meaning Martin's record could stand for many years to come.