Jorge Martin says the sprint race at Sepang on Saturday could have had an entirely different outcome had he not toughed it out with polesitter Francesco Bagnaia to take the lead midway through the first corner.
As it happened, factory Ducati rider Bagnaia fell out of second place on the third lap of the race, leaving Martin (Pramac Ducati) to stretch his points advantage from 17 to 29 with a straightforward victory.
The Italian’s fall highlighted the difficulty of trying to follow and overtake another rider in MotoGP – as did Martin after the race.
“If I hadn’t taken first position straight away today, I wouldn’t have won,” said Martin. “I think Pecco would have won and I would have been second. So to start well is really important.
“Nowadays, either you are like Enea [Bastianini] who can come from behind, or it’s impossible to win if you’re not in first position at the beginning.”
Martin also showed some sympathy for Bagnaia having been caught out at the slow, left-hand Turn 9.
“It’s been a really critical corner all weekend,” he added. “You have like three different asphalts on the perfect line. And at one point, there’s no asphalt! So it’s like motocross; super difficult. You need to ride a really precise line at that corner.
“I had a few moments there in my time attack yesterday and also today. And sometimes I had to [back off] there during the race too in order not to crash.”
Martin added that his sprint victory was not as easy as it looked after Bagnaia’s retirement.
“After Pecco’s crash, it was difficult to manage the situation,” said Martin. “But I was able to do it well.
“You do have to think about the fact that Pecco has crashed. You think ‘be careful, you need to finish’. At one point I even thought I might have to [let Marc past] and finish second.
“But I had a lead of eight-tenths, so it made no sense to wait for him. So I said ‘okay, let’s keep doing the thing you know how to do’.
“I was really focused on my braking references, just trying to do everything the same without changing anything.”
Martin’s successful Saturday means he could wrap up his maiden championship in the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.
But he does not plan to take a particularly cautious approach or get bogged down in the permutations.
“When I try to relax, I get more nervous and everything gets more difficult,” he said when asked if he felt more breathing space with the extended points advantage.
“Today I was a bit nervous in the morning, so I said to Gino [Borsoi, his team manager], ‘Gino, I will go for it.’ I don’t want to finish second or third, I want to go for it. If Pecco is stronger, he will win. And if he’s not, he won’t’.
“Tomorrow will be a bit more of the same. If Pecco is much stronger, it’s okay. But I will do my best, because it’s the only way I can really be at 100% and focused.”
He noted that Bagnaia will be a dangerous competitor on Sunday given he has no choice but to win.
“It’s a privilege to have this advantage at this point,” said Martin. “But it’s not over until it’s over.
“Tomorrow will be a really long race and Pecco will risk a lot to win. He has nothing to lose now – it’s all or nothing. To beat him under those conditions is really tough.”
However, Martin also echoed Bagnaia’s suspicion that the championship leader is unlikely to finish lower than second – despite his chaser’s hopes that other riders can take points off the Spaniard.
“We are a step in front of the others, so I think in the worst case I will try to finish second,” said Martin.
