Despite finishing in second place on Saturday Martin extended his Championship lead over Bagnaia.

Jorge Martin had to settle for second place on Saturday at the Chang International Circuit. However, the Spaniard finished ahead of his main title rival, Francesco Bagnaia, who finished in third place.

Martin discussed his difficult race start and his comeback throughout the Sprint Race. After making his way back up to second place Martin feels confident for the Grand Prix on Sunday. But the Spaniard knows that Bagnaia, Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini will all be in the battle for victory.

"It was a difficult race," Martin admitted. "I started really well, but not as well as expected. I think starting from the right side I was not so confident so I took a bit of margin at the start. Then I tried to overtake Enea (Bastianini) but he released the brake so I was going to hit Pecco (Bagnaia). So, I knew I had to release the brake and lose some positions or hit Pecco, so I went off the track. I lost six positions so it was not good and I was a bit nervous.

"But after two or three laps sitting in with the heat of the bikes in front, I was able to be competitive. I was catching the guys in front and overtaking them one by one and then finally Pecco was hard to overtake. But, I am happy and I did a good job. Tomorrow will be a really challenging race, I feel Pecco will be really strong and Marc (Marquez) will be stronger than today. It also seems like Enea has made a big step so I will focus on myself and try to do my best."

Martin's only overtake on Bagnaia came as a shock to many as he launched his Pramac Ducati passed Bagnaia at Turn Seven. Bagnaia claimed that Martin passed him at his weakest part of the circuit, but Martin believes that part of the circuit was the Italian's best sector of the track.

"I think that was Pecco's strongest part of the circuit all weekend. He was gaining a lot of time to me not only on the time attack but on race pace as well he was stronger. So, I did not expect to make the move there but I thought if I made the move at his strongest point then I could be fast and make a gap. I made a small gap but then he was catching me again, it will be a really physical challenge tomorrow. We are both riding on the limit so it will be really tough."

'I touched the green one time I think' - Martin

Bagnaia thought he witnessed Martin touch the green paint on four occasions during the Sprint Race. When told about this Martin made a series of jokes about track limits and how he would do it again on Sunday.

Martin responded to Bagnaia's claims by saying: "Eight times maybe! I was wide in the first corner but I had the choice of running wide or hitting him. Anyway, that was blue so rules are rules, the blue is the blue and the green is the green. I touched the green one time I think, tomorrow I can do it five times so maybe I will do it four times."

Finally, Martin was asked about the 2024 MotoGP title fight. However, the Spaniard quickly made it clear that he did not want to discuss the race for the title.

"I don't want to think about this," Martin stated. "It is good that we are in this position at this stage of the Championship. Anyway, I want to focus on riding, today I rode like it was the first race, I gave my 100%. Tomorrow I will do the same, for sure I have to not be silly and think about the risk and control the risk. But, I am in a good position and I need to profit from it."