Jorge Martin looks back: “I rode extra slowly in the 2024 World Championship battle”

The MotoGP World Championship is currently in its summer break, before resuming with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone from 7 August. Championship leader Jorge Martin is currently enjoying a road cycling endurance challenge around his adopted home of Andorra. Appearing on the US podcast ‘Gypsytales’ – which usually focuses mainly on well-known off-road stars – Martin recently spoke openly about his 2024 world championship-winning year and the long and thrilling battle against Pecco Bagnaia – who was riding a Pramac customer Ducati at the time.

“I’m so proud of my World Championship title. Back then, there were twelve of us up against about 500 – up against an entire factory team,” recalls Martin. “You’d think Ducati supported me – but they supported Pecco,” says Martin. “But the good thing was that I could compare at Ducati. There were eight motorbikes – depending on who was fast – no matter which corner, maybe Bastianini or even Marquez.”

Markenkollegen im Kampf um den Titel 2024: Martin besiegte Bagnaia

Foto: Gold and Goose

Martin went on to reveal: “In some sessions at certain times of the year, I actually rode more slowly on purpose during practice. That way, they didn’t look at my data. For example, I’d ride fast in sectors 1 and 3 on one lap, and then in sectors 2 and 4 on the next. Afterwards, I’d piece it all together with my team. So we hid our data a bit – it was an incredible battle.”

Martin on Bagnaia: “Incredible on the brakes”

Jorge Martin added: “I could see Pecco’s data too – but I don’t know whether they were hiding anything or not. Pecco was the absolute benchmark at Ducati, and on the brakes he was next level! You can’t even imagine it. I sometimes tried to brake as late as possible – so late that I could already see All Saints’ Day. Then I looked at the data and saw that Pecco had braked 30 metres later still. He was incredible in that respect.”

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Speaking about his strengths, the current Aprilia and future Yamaha works rider said: “My strength is usually coming out of corners and acceleration. I straighten the bike out early and am then very fast – that’s my strongest point. Pecco is good in the initial phase, when he opens the throttle for the first time. But I open the throttle fully very early on. It was good to compare the data and be so close to him.”