Championship leader Martin after sprint podium: “Didn’t want to take any big risks”

Jorge Martin was forced to abandon his first attempt to overtake Fabio Di Giannantonio in the chaos shortly after the start of the sprint race at Misano; it was only halfway through the sprint race that the Aprilia rider was able to secure the final podium place on Saturday.

The current championship leader admitted during the podium ceremony: “I didn’t want to take too big a risk trying to overtake Fabio Di Giannantonio.” Finding the right spot to attack the Roman rider proved challenging: “I had problems attacking Diggia, who was on the soft compound, with my medium-hard rear tyre.” From the start, Martin was stuck behind the VR46 rider for six laps without being able to mount a successful attack.

It was not until the seventh lap that the Spaniard squeezed past the Italian – one of the few overtaking manoeuvres in the sprint race on the outskirts of Rimini. Both had already managed to pass Fermin Aldeguer, who had started from third on the grid, on the very first lap.

Jorge Martin setzte sich gegen Fabio Di Giannantonio (Nr. 49) durch

Foto: Gold and Goose

A podium finish had not been on the cards at the start of the race weekend. After qualifying directly for the second qualifying session, Martin explained that he had been “completely at the limit”; in Q2, he secured fifth on the grid – although the 2024 champion was half a second slower than his team-mate Bezzecchi. After the sprint race, he said he was “improving with every lap.” However, Martin described it as “a very difficult weekend overall.” The Italian team’s frontrunner sees room for improvement: “I hope we continue to improve.”

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MotoGP World Championship

13.09.2026 - 09:35

Ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix, Jorge Martín leads on 263 points, ahead of Marc Márquez on 249. His Aprilia team-mate Marco Bezzecchi follows, a further 8 points behind. The top three riders are therefore within 22 points of one another following the sprint race on the Adriatic coast.