Jorge Martin on fire in the Qatar Sprint: “Third place is like a win”

“It’s always special to be on the grid in Qatar, and my aim is to finish both races,” Jorge Martin had said on Friday, looking ahead to the MotoGP weekend and his World Championship battle with Marc Marquez. By the end of qualifying, at the very latest, hardly anyone would have expected the ‘Martinator’ to be in contention for victory at times during Saturday evening’s sprint race.

In qualifying for the grid, Martin felt held up by Pedro Acosta and started the race from eleventh on the grid. When the chequered flag fell, the man with the number 89 was on the podium, exactly two weeks after breaking his right wrist in a crash during the sprint race at Phillip Island. By the end of the first lap of Saturday’s race, the 2024 World Champion was in sixth place; by the next lap, he had already moved up to fourth. Acosta, Fernández and Zarco had to let the hero of the race pull away.

Eisbeutel bitte: Jorge Martin schaffte es im Sprint auf Platz 3

Foto: Gold and Goose

During the podium ceremony, the injured World Championship runner-up explained: “The adrenaline helped me push on. I opted for the soft rear tyre so I could go on the attack.” As early as the fourth lap, the Madrid-born rider found himself in a thrilling duel with rival Marc Márquez, resulting in several attacks: “Battling with Marc for the lead was fun. Ultimately, though, I didn’t have enough strength to give it my all right to the end.”

In the penultimate lap, Martin was beaten by Fabio Di Giannantonio, who managed to gradually improve his lap times in the final laps. However: “Finishing on the podium in this race is incredible and feels like a win.” To at least keep his theoretical World Championship hopes alive for Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix, Jorge Martin must score at least one point. Now, only Martin has the chance to stop Marc Marquez. Marco Bezzecchi is out of the World Championship race following his crash – ironically, after a collision with Marquez.

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