MARTIN’S SOFT-TYRE GAMBLE SECURES QATAR SPRINT PODIUM AFTER MARQUEZ DUEL

Jorge Martin turned a difficult Qatar MotoGP sprint into a podium finish by taking a tyre gamble after the race was stopped, then restarting on a soft rear despite Aprilia’s advice.

Starting 11th, the Aprilia rider made little progress in the opening lap. The sprint was red-flagged on lap two after Pecco Bagnaia crashed in a collision with Fermin Aldeguer. Bagnaia later suffered a fractured foot. Martin used the interruption to change from the medium rear tyre to the softer option, a decision he said was his own. He had fractured his right wrist in a sprint crash at Phillip Island two weeks earlier and was still short of full fitness. His wrist felt less comfortable on Saturday than it had the day before, but he still produced a ride that exceeded expectations after qualifying 11th.

The switch transformed his race. Martin said he got away well at the restart, moving into fifth or sixth, and found the soft tyre gave him confidence under braking. He passed Pedro Acosta, Raul Fernandez and Johann Zarco as he worked through the field, briefly taking the lead after Marc Marquez was involved in a collision with Marco Bezzecchi. Bezzecchi fell, while Marquez continued with his airbag deployed. Martin attacked Marquez at turn six on lap four, but the Ducati rider cut back underneath him at turn seven to reclaim the lead. Martin said he saw Marquez was “not losing much time” despite the deployed airbag and decided, “This is it, now or never. I had to try.”

Martin said overtaking Marquez was different from passing other riders: “With the others I could overtake and pull away, but when I pass Marc, he always counterattacks.” He tried to stay with him and hoped he would make a mistake, but Marquez did not. Martin finished 1.5 seconds behind the winner, saying: “That’s racing, I gave it my all.” Fabio Di Giannantonio also passed him on the final lap, leaving Martin third.

“I was feeling much better in the braking,” Martin said. He added that he tried to look after the rear tyre while using his braking strength to attack. “All the race, I felt more competitive than the rest.” Although he regretted losing second place, he described the result as “already a victory”.

Martin later called the tyre choice the key to his result. He said he had realised he was uncomfortable on the medium and chose the soft despite going against the team’s advice. “I managed to pick up more than just three points,” he said. He also told DAZN: “Whenever I’m on the track, I try to put on a good show. In the end, I always try to overtake and give it my all, but it’s been tough. To be honest, I was really struggling in the final laps, but I made the most of it, and I’m very happy.”

The soft tyre’s advantage faded late on. Martin said its drop-off, combined with his physical condition, left him unable to respond to Di Giannantonio. “The last two laps were on the limit,” he said, explaining that he had tried to defend but lacked the drive to fight back. He also acknowledged he was “not riding in my best shape”.

Martin nevertheless viewed the choice as worthwhile. He expressed concern for Bagnaia, saying the crash “wasn’t pretty at all – it was nasty” and that he hoped his fellow rider was not badly hurt. After the race, Martin celebrated by pouring cold water over his injured wrist.

Reflecting on his recovery from the fracture, Martin called himself “a tough guy” and said he had spent the two weeks trying to recover as much as possible. “This is what I had. I didn’t have any more, honestly,” he said. He praised the team’s work given his condition and summed up his approach with a simple message: “Just fight, that is my word.”

Marquez’s sprint win extended his championship advantage by five points. Martin said his focus was on collecting as many points as possible, with the rest beyond his control. He headed into Sunday’s Grand Prix 49 points behind Marquez, with 99 still available. Looking ahead, Martin said he would try to make a good start and believed he had the pace to move forward, while warning that the race would be long and physically difficult. “I’ll try to take it to Portimao,” he said. “We’ve seen today that anything can happen. I hope to be ready if an opportunity arises.”