After Francesco Bagnaia crashed in the Malaysian Sprint Race, Jorge Martin could win the MotoGP Championship on Sunday.
Jorge Martin dominated the Malaysian Sprint Race on Saturday as he extended his Championship lead. The Prima Pramac Racing rider led the 10-lap race from when the lights went out until the chequered flag was waved.
The Spaniard was confident coming into the Sprint Race as he knew his race pace was strong. However, in the time attacks, he lacked something and qualified in second, which in the end did not matter.
After his title rival, Francesco Bagnaia, had topped every session on Friday and Saturday it looked like Martin would have to settle for second. However, after a lightning start, Martin took the lead and put pressure on Bagnaia. This pressure ultimately led to Bagnaia crashing out of the Sprint and scoring zero points.
"Today was a difficult day, before the race I was thinking a lot," Martin told MotoGP.com "Today the normal result would have been first and second, first for Pecco and second for me. But I wanted to race how I know I can, I wanted to try and win.
"For sure Pecco had to risk a bit more than me, this is normal, but from that point it was mental. I had to keep everything very precise and not make any changes. So, it was a really difficult one, Marc was even closing the gap to me at some points. I was even thinking 'Maybe I have to let him by and finish in second'. But I managed the situation quite well and tomorrow will be a really long race. But I feel prepared so let's try to do the best we can."
'I am really grateful to be in this position. I am super happy and we are doing an amazing job.'
Before the Sprint, Martin knew that he would be able to fight for victory. Despite missing something in the time attacks the Spaniard knew he had a strong race pace.
"I felt really good in terms of pace all weekend," said Martin. "I missed a bit today and yesterday in time attacks. But the main goal was to be on the front row, and I achieved it. So, I was really confident and understood that I was strong for the race and I did my best."
When Bagnaia crashed in the Sprint Martin did not realise that his rival was out of contention. The Spaniard was told by his team that Bagnaia had crashed. However, his dashboard still told him that he had Bagnaia behind.
Martin said: "I was pushing a lot and then I saw that he crashed on my dash, but I thought it was a mistake. Because when I got onto the straight I saw that Pecco was two-tenths behind me, but maybe that was the third sector. So, I still pushed for another lap and then I saw eight-tenths to Marc, then I realised I was in first so I managed the gap."
On Sunday Martin has the opportunity to win the MotoGP World Championship. The 26-year-old is 'grateful' to be in this position but knows that it will be tough to wrap up the title in Malaysia.
"I am really grateful to be in this position," Martin stated. "I am super happy and we are doing an amazing job, I want to be focused on tomorrow. But it will be really difficult to finish it tomorrow, there is still a long way to go. But the important thing is to give 100% and to be precise, if I have the opportunity to do it I will take it. If not I think Pecco will risk a lot tomorrow so it will be a big challenge to beat him."
