Aleix Espargaró was one of the stars of the day. One lap from the end, the driver from Granollers thought the race was already over and therefore cut the gas in his RS-GP, giving Jorge Martín second place in the Catalan Grand Prix.
The rider from Madrid did not waste the opportunity that his compatriot gave him, crossing the finish line and entering the honor drawer of the ninth round of the year.
“Honda has taken a big step and Nakagami was doing very well in the first corner”, explained Jorge after finishing the test. “When he lost the front end I tried to avoid crashes. In the second corner I was already third, so I thought the time had come to manage, and I overtook Aleix [Espargaró] as soon as I could”.
“I saw that [Aleix] was slipping his bike a lot in the last few laps. Suddenly he cut the gas, I thought his engine had broken and I closed the throttle a bit on the straight. I’m satisfied, this podium tastes good to me afterwards of three difficult races”.
This podium fills Pramac ‘s garage with motivation, which, with Johann Zarco in third place, can boast of having both drivers uncorking the champagne. With these premises, the rider from Madrid took the opportunity to open up about the situation he is going through this season.
“Only at Le Mans did I have a physical problem,” he said. “In the other races, everything really happened. I think it was my fault, just a crash. Actually, I lacked speed because I was riding a bike that wasn’t mine.
For this reason, Jorge Martín is currently at the controls “of a standard motorcycle”, a concept that aroused the interest of the journalists present.
“When I talk about the standard bike, I mean that I was using a front set-up similar to Pecco’s from Jerez. With which, we went back to the original settings . This means that it went well and I hope to be in the best position more times”.
“I’m a rider who needs the front end a lot. And in the last few races I didn’t have a good feeling with it, and I crashed. I was losing confidence and I was starting very slowly. For this reason, we went back to the base bike and I got back the feeling of immediate”.
This podium will accompany Jorge Martín to the operating room tomorrow, where he will undergo an operation on his right wrist.
“Today I felt a little pain in my wrist, but it wasn’t a big problem. The truth is that I want to feel 100%, because always feeling pain is not ideal. I want to be ready for Germany.”
The accident between Alex Rins, Takaaki Nakagami and Pecco Bagnaia caught the eye on Sunday, creating a range of opinions regarding the responsibility of Race Direction.
“In Race Direction they have to be more objective”, admitted Jorge Martín. “Not only apply it [the punishment or penalty] to some drivers and not others. I was penalized for an absurd thing in Mugello. Today, with a big crash that could have been very dangerous, it seems that they are not willing to take action in the matter. I think that the same rule must be applied to everyone. They have to improve and they have to be more objective”
“I don’t think it’s a career move either. I think they should have penalized Nakagami already in Mugello, now he goes unpunished and if they don’t penalize him he will continue in this line. He has broken Rins’ wrist, and he has also put in a situation of risk to himself”.
“I think they have to find a system that helps the safety of the drivers and without penalizing, [this] is not the way,” concluded the Spaniard.
