Martin ahead of the German GP and his move to Yamaha: “100 per cent until the very end”

Whilst Aprilia’s star rider Marco Bezzecchi went from being the celebrated winner of his home Grand Prix to a crashed and suspended World Championship runner-up in the space of a few weeks, Jorge Martin stepped into the breach. The situation surrounding the 2024 world champion is curious. It had already been decided behind the scenes months ago that Martin would be leaving Aprilia after two years – and Jorge Martin’s form continued to stabilise as he became increasingly certain of the impending split. Whilst Bezzecchi failed to score points in four of the last eight races, Martin slipped up only once. His crash at Balaton caused tension, as Martin had dramatically allowed Aprilia’s commanding lead in the Manufacturers’ Championship to melt away with the triple retirement.

At the opening press conference for the German Grand Prix, Jorge Martin had no trouble passing the favouritism baton to Marc Marquez. ‘MM93’, who also stepped up to the microphones, has the chance to secure his tenth victory at the Sachsenring.

Jorge Martin was self-critical about his performances in recent races, which were characterised by consistency but not by race wins: “I’m not entirely satisfied with my pace, because most recently at Assen I didn’t stand a chance – the Trackhouse lads’ pace was much better. Aprilia have done a fantastic job with the bike, but it’s up to me and the team to get a bit more out of it in the next few races.”

Jorge Martin übernahm erst beim letzten Assen-GP die MotoGP-WM-Führung

Foto: Gold and Goose

Martin was also asked about his signing for Yamaha, which had already been made public. The Madrid-born rider put it bluntly: “When I joined MotoGP, I was able to choose Ducati. Then the right moment came for Aprilia – and now, with a view to the future for me and my family, it was time to sign for Yamaha. I don’t want to say any more than that.”

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Jorge Martin’s comments on his newly secured lead in the standings and his next sporting goals showed a sense of realism: “It’s nice to be in P1, but that’s about it. At this stage, it doesn’t matter to me whether I’m in 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th place. The World Championship is very competitive; a whole host of riders are bunched very closely together. So much is still possible; I think it’s best to just focus on delivering the best possible performance next time. The main aim is to head into the second half of the season feeling positive and knowing that we’ve given one hundred per cent right up to the end.”

Ahead of Races 21 and 22, the ‘Martinator’s’ position is indeed anything but comfortable. The top four in the World Championship – Martin, Bezzecchi, Di Giannantonio and Ai Ogura – are separated by just 25 points ahead of the summer break. And even Sachsenring record-holder Marc Marquez is only 40 points off the top spot.