Everything looked like a sure MotoGP victory and a perfect weekend for Jorge Martin at the Sachsenring. Two laps before the end everything changed: victory gone and the World Championship lead gone. Buried in the gravel bed of Turn 1. It’s become a tiresome pattern for the Spaniard that threatens his World Championship chances.
No explanation for the Sachsenring crash, not for the first time
“I can’t explain the crash to you. It’s very difficult to explain. I haven’t had time to understand and analyze it yet. I would prefer to take some time and calmly let what happened sink in. I don’t want to do that now, it would be pointless,” Martin said, helpless in front of the assembled journalists after his fatal mistake. The crash in turn 1 was harmless, but the race was over. Francesco Bagnaia wins, scores 25 points and overtakes in the World Championship rankings.
Even though Martin probably needs some time, he still gave an insight into his thoughts. And they are worrying: “This is an important day in my career. I have to draw my conclusions now. Jerez, Mugello and here: the crashes were always the same. So there is something there. Maybe it’s a mental thing, but I don’t know what. Something is making me crash. I have to learn and pick myself up again.”
Pressure from Bagnaia decisive? Maybe…
‘Something’ is not exactly a precise description of the problem. But all the explanations that the media representatives threw at him did not apply to the Pramac driver. Turn 1 is one of the few right-hand bends, but no: “I felt really good in the right-hand bends. I also beat Pecco [Bagnaia] overtook him. That wasn’t easy. I was able to stop the bike perfectly. He had more problems in right-hand bends.”
Tire wear? No, too: “I managed both the front and the rear. It felt fantastic, much better than in practice.” Then there was the pressure from his rival Bagnaia. Here there is a definite maybe: “I certainly wanted to maintain the half-second gap so that Pecco couldn’t overtake me. Maybe that was a mistake. Maybe I should have let him catch up and then we would have seen what would have happened. I don’t know. I’ll understand when we’ve analyzed it.”
Francesco Bagnaia: After the summer break, the World Cup begins again
At least this analysis can now be tackled in detail and calmly: “It’s good that we have time now. We are only halfway through the championship, so it’s not the end of the world.” The MotoGP summer break lasts four weeks. The premier class will not return to Silverstone until the beginning of August. Martin wants to have regrouped by then.
He is getting support from his big rival, of all people. Francesco Bagnaia won in Germany, but he doesn’t want to hear about a turning point in the world championship. He is still counting on Martin: “I’ve had the same opinion for 6 or 7 Grand Prix. I feel fantastic, I’m doing a good job and I’ve won 5 races. But I don’t think it will change anything for Jorge. I’ll start in Silverstone with a 10-point lead. It’s like a fresh start. The world championship is still long, so now is not the time to talk about a turning point.” But it is clear that the trend is currently clearly in favor of the defending champion. Martin really needs to analyze himself and his crashes carefully if he wants to fight back.