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San Marino MotoGP winner Jorge Martin has downplayed the notion that Francesco Bagnaia struggled with his injuries in their battle at Misano.
The Pramac Racing Ducati rider capped a perfect weekend with an emphatic success, pulling clear after initially being pushed hard by Francesco Bagnaia and Marco Bezzecchi on the opening laps of the Grand Prix race.
Martin, who shattered the lap record in qualifying for pole at the Marco Simoncelli Circuit and won the Sprint race on Saturday, has slashed Bagnaia’s cushion to 36 points with eight rounds remaining.
The 25-year-old took full advantage of Bagnaia’s injuries from the 2022 champion’s massive highside at Catalunya, but Martin shrugged off any notion that Bagnaia’s performance was significantly impacted as a result of the crash, or that runner-up Bezzecchi was any less competitive as the Italian rode with an injured left hand.
“I already raced with a lot of injuries and at the moment you are on the track, you don’t feel it a lot,” said Martin, who was celebrating his second double of the season.
“Sure, you have the pain during the sessions, but when you are in the race you have had your painkillers.
“I thought they were 100 percent, they were pushing me like hell, and this was their track, so I think it was a really important victory for the championship.”
Following his win in the Sprint race, Martin was prepared for Bagnaia and Bezzecchi to launch an all-out attack on the first laps in an effort to upset his rhythm.
“It was a really tough one and I already thought it was going to be really similar,” he said. “I felt the first laps they were going to be close and they were super close.
“When I heard them, I tried to push and I was always in the lead because it was important for the [tyre] pressure, and then as soon as I saw they were beginning to close – I saw +0.3 – I started to push like hell, like a time attack; I was braking on the limit and it was worth it.
“It was really physical and I struggled quite a lot on the last eight or nine laps, but finally I could maintain that gap with Marco after pushing a lot.
“To win here in Italy is amazing and I was expecting a really hard weekend on Thursday, and finally with the pole position, Sprint and race victory it is amazing, so we are looking forward to the next races,” he added.
“I feel in a great moment and in great shape, and the team is working well, so we will try and keep to this level.”
Martin is in a confident frame of mind as he ramps up his bid for a dream maiden premier class crown and feels he found a sweet spot with the Pramac Ducati and his team.
“I feel like coming from last season was almost complicated in every track, so I had to put in hours of work to improve myself, to improve the bike and nothing was working,” he said.
“Finally, this is when we found a great engine which is working well, I can do the things I want and this helps us to be competitive every session and this helps me work more on the details to be fast on Sunday.”
