“I don't really care” - Jorge Martin deflects MotoGP title lead pressure

Jorge Martin emerged from the British MotoGP weekend having more than doubled his championship lead from 14 to 31 points.

The factory Aprilia rider followed pole position and victory in the Sprint with second place behind Raul Fernandez in Sunday’s grand prix.

With Fernandez only sixth in the standings and Trackhouse team-mate Ai Ogura - Martin's nearest rival coming into the grand prix - crashing out, Martin leaves Silverstone with a clear advantage over Aprilia team-mate Marco Bezzecchi.

But Martin, winner of the 2024 crown with Pramac Ducati, insisted the championship lead means little at this stage.

“I don't really care if I'm first or second or whatever,” Jorge Martin said.

“I just try to improve, constantly, to have the chance to fight for a title at the end. For me, it's good enough.

“Two years ago, I was really obsessed with always trying to be in front, trying to be on the lead. But this honestly takes a lot of energy.

“So now I'm just focusing to be a better Jorge. And the consequence is that we are doing the right things and I'm in the lead.”

He added: “What I want is to continue improving with my bike.

“I have full confidence in myself, full confidence in the team. And sometimes if we are lost or we lose the speed, it's because something is not right. It's not that we are not good.

“This weekend was perfect. I was able to not change the setup for the whole weekend. So this is amazing. But there will be races where we will struggle.

“The important thing is to improve from the first part of the season and to be more constant.”

Start costs Martin

Martin’s hopes of completing a Silverstone double were dealt a major blow when he tried to resist Fernandez into Turn 1.

By not braking harder, his ride-height device failed to release and sent him wide. Ogura suffered the same problem just behind.

“It was a nice race, but I think it was really compromised by the start,” Martin said.

“Raul started much better than me. I could hear his bike. And when we went into the first corner, I just wanted to keep the first position and I didn't brake enough. So my rear device didn't come back.

“Then I went wide and Marco overtook me. So I lost quite a lot of time.

“I think it was more my mistake to try to keep the first instead of braking a little bit more. Then maybe I would have had the chance to be in second position behind Raul. But I was too optimistic!”

Martin reclaimed second place from team-mate Bezzecchi just before half-distance, but Fernandez was long gone.

“I tried to recover as fast as possible, but my strategy was compromised. When I got into second, already Raul had like five seconds. So I just tried to put my pace.

“Some laps, I saw him a bit closer and I thought maybe his tyre was going to drop, but he managed amazingly.

“No matter the result, the important thing for me is that we are back to being competitive. That is the most important thing. And we can fight again in the next race.”