Jorge Martín won the MotoGP Qatar GP Sprint race, setting up the title fight for the last round of the season in Valencia. The Prima Pramac rider is just seven points behind the championship leader, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati).
The Spaniard spoke to the press about a race he had to manage, being able to hold something extra to beat his rivals at the end: ‘Maybe the experience I have helped me a little bit. I think already this morning I felt super strong with the hard rear [tyre], so I was quite confident I would be able to win. It was important to do a good qualifying and I think it was. The start went well; I did a small mistake that helped Pecco and Marc [Márquez] to overtake me. But then I was able to keep calm, to wait for my moment because I knew the tyre consumption would be quite big. So I tried to manage the tyres and go fast and at the end I had something else to beat them’.
After gaining points on Bagnaia in the Sprint race, Martín stressed the importance of doing the same tomorrow: ‘For sure the target is to recover points and today we did it, so I’m happy. We need to do it also tomorrow, I think tomorrow is a big day for all of us, for Pecco and for me. Because the story in Valencia depends on how it goes tomorrow. So hopefully we can recover some points, even if it is one it will be crucial to be closer in Valencia. I think we are in a good position at the moment, I was strong today and I can do it tomorow’.