Jorge Martin was heading for a MotoGP double victory in the sprint and main races at the German Grand Prix. He had everything under control with two laps to go. The gap to World Championship rival Francesco Bagnaia remained at more than half a second, and the lead in the drivers’ championship had been extended to 20 points at this point. But on the penultimate lap, everything changed in turn one. The Ducati rider crashed, handing Bagnaia the race win and the World Championship lead on a silver platter. Martin was still at a loss after the crash. His MotoGP colleagues are also divided.
Francesco Bagnaia: Could have been a great duel
As already mentioned, Francesco Bagnaia is the winner of this scene in two respects. “It’s a bit of a shame because we would have had a good fight for the win in the last few laps,” said Bagnaia, somewhat disappointed at the end of the duel between him and Martin. “But the pace we drove was simply critical. The front and rear tires were practically screaming.”
“Every time I braked in turn one, I felt that the front tire wasn’t there properly. Despite that, we drove incredible lap times,” said Bagnaia, who was nevertheless sure that he could have caught Martin. “I think he wanted to keep the half-second lead, but he simply braked too hard in the first corner. When I saw that he was going to crash, I immediately slowed down. That was just too much.”
Jack Miller: You hate yourself for things like that
“It’s one of those things you hate yourself for,” explained Jack Miller after the race. The KTM rider knew the problem that caused Martin to crash. “You come in there way too fast and you still want to stop the bike. Sometimes you just roll the dice and see if you can brake later and then you realise ‘Oh, I managed it’. But with each lap it gets more difficult, you have to take more and more weight off the front. That happened to me several times, and I almost had to straighten the bike up. But you have the choice: you can straighten the bike up or just keep it straight.”
After the race, Jorge Martin had no explanation for his fall. Yamaha star Fabio Quartararo showed a little more understanding than Miller. “When you ride alone, it’s always more difficult. The tire gets more fresh air and it probably had a little less temperature. This is a different situation where you know that something like this can happen.”
Luca Marini: Better to lose two tenths than destroy the World Cup
“I think we’re just driving at the absolute limit,” explained Maverick Vinales. “The lap times were really fast, even at the end of the race.” The Aprilia driver also said the nature of the corner was the cause. “Turn 1 is super tricky. It goes uphill first, then down again. When you accelerate, you hardly have any weight at the front, which is why you crash. It happened to me in training. I braked well and when I accelerated, I was in the gravel. So it’s very easy to crash there, you have to be very careful.”
Honda rider Luca Marini clearly saw the cause as Martin’s. “In my opinion, he braked very late there, even behind the white line, which is actually the braking point for this corner. I think he also understood that he was going too far because he stuck out his right foot quite far,” analyzed the VR46 Academy rider. “He wasn’t sure whether he should put the bike in but probably thought ‘Okay, I’ll try it’.” A serious mistake, as it turned out just a fraction of a second later. “Perhaps it’s better to lose two tenths and go wide than to destroy the world championship. It’s a shame for him, but better for Pecco.”
Now it’s up to you: How did you see the crash? Was it a driving error by Jorge Martin? Tell us your opinion in the comments!