Jorge Martin ended the year in the best possible way, but he had started it in the worst. In 2023 he lost the title at the last race in Valencia against Pecco Bagnaia and that bad blow left its mark on the Pramac team rider's mind.
When the time came to start the new season again, everything had become even more complicated.
"In January I suffered a lot from a mental health," he said in an interview granted to motogp.com, "I didn't want to race anymore, I had a lot of fears that appeared.
I did an anazing season but I didn't win, so it was like maybe I would never be as fast as I was last year or I would never win this championship again. In testing I was fast, but I had no motivation, I was just doing my job and they were paying me.
So getting that motivation back, enjoying the process and not looking at the end result was the key: the best lesson I learned is to live the present.
In the past few months I was praying a lot, to find my faith again. Praying is like speaking to yourself, trying to be a good person, and it's really powerful."
It worked, now Jorge is world champion and he is justifiably proud.
"I was winning against the best Pecco, because he won 11 races, and Marc Marquez was also in his best version, although maybe he didn't have the best bike," he said, " Everything that comes from now on will be a gift.
The important thing will be to give my best, but I won my title and I will live in peace for the rest of my life."
Getting it done, however, was not easy, the fact that Ducati would allow a satellite team to succeed not a given.
Especially since Pramac had decided to switch to Yamaha and Marc Marquez had been preferred over Martin for the factory team in 2025.
"I spoke to them at Sachsenring, and I was clear," Jorge revealed, "They did not handle the situation well, but there was no point in starting a fight.
They were all scared, even Campinoti, they were afraid they would do something to make me lose, but they didn't. Chapeau and thanks to Ducati. What are they thinking now? To get me back in 2027," he concluded with a laugh.
