Pramac’s Jorge Martin claimed his first MotoGP points of 2022 on Sunday securing second in the Argentina GP.
Despite consistently qualifying his Ducati GP22 on the front row for all three of this season’s opening grids so far, Martin’s luck had failed to carry through to the races with DNF’s in both Qatar and Indonesia. Argentina, however, saw the 24-year-old both qualify and finish in second, having led the majority of the 25-lap race.
“Finally super happy to finish a race because this year so far it's been a bit difficult for me but anyway, super consistent, always fast and finally we end in a really good position,” Martin explained of his rollercoaster season.
“I'm super happy about this. I think it was one of the best weekends so far in my MotoGP career because I've been working a lot, super consistent and also in the race I put everything on track. Today was difficult because the conditions were really hot. I knew Aleix [Espargaro, who eventually claimed his maiden victory on the Aprilia RS-GP] was a bit faster but I tried to keep him behind. I was a bit better on braking but he was unbelievable on other parts of the track T1/T2 so yeah, super happy for him. Also because he's a really good friend of mine and I'm happy for him to win today.
“In acceleration, corner four, before the back-straight, I was struggling a lot. I couldn't open the throttle and he was super fast there. He was much better all the weekend so it was normal that he was better also today. I tried and I was super close. Just eight-tenths from the victory so I'm happy.
“Austin is a good track for us, also last year I almost finished on the podium. We can continue like this and start building from this moment. I will enjoy the moment because it's not easy nowadays to be in the front and today we did it. So I'm super happy for the team and for myself.”
While the win was denied at Termas de Rio Hondo, the celebrations were in full swing as Espargaro claimed his maiden Grand Prix victory on his 200th weekend.
“I knew Aleix was coming because I was watching the screen,” Martin said of the late-race battle. “Every lap at corner five and I knew he was close. I could hear his bike. I knew the overtaking was coming soon. He struggle a bit to overtake because I was braking hard on corner five, but then just four laps to go he did the move and I knew it was almost impossible to overtake without a collision. So I just try to push a lot and forced him to make a mistake but he didn't. He was impressive today.
“Super happy for him,” Martin continued. "We all know how much he works. For me, it's really special because he gave me a house, he gave me food, he gave me material to train when I had nothing because everybody know that I'm from a really humble family. So really, he helped me a lot in my past, in all my career with a lot of time with me and making me be a better rider. So is the best thing that could happen today with his victory and for sure we will have a beer afterwards!”
Despite the start to the Spaniard’s sophomore season not playing out as expected, he remains focused and confident of his potential rather than bowing to the pressure of the past two falls.
“I just tried to be super focused this weekend,” he confirmed. “I didn't look at the other results. I mean, even Qatar or Indonesia I was super competitive. I was fast. The pace wasn't a disaster, but then we had some issues during the races. So I asked to this races the same, try to win because if you think about keeping some margin or not pushing 100 per cent, you finish 15th.
“Even trying to win I didn't win! But I'm super happy with my performance today.
“All the weekend, I think was the most consistent weekend of all my MotoGP career because I was super focused, working alone, trying to be consistent all the weekend and actually in the race it was almost easy to keep the pace. It wasn't super fast because the conditions were really hard after Moto2 race, the grip was much less than all the weekend. I knew Aleix was coming, I saw on the screen. I was just constant, try to keep the pace, no mistakes at all. We struggle maybe in acceleration corners three/four and also on the straight our speed is not good so we need to get into that and improve it for next one but on braking I'm super competitive.
“We start building from this point after two DNF’s. I think I am super, fast, motivated and confident for the future. Just same mentality, race by race and try to win all of them. For sure is seems almost impossible but I will try the same for the future.”
