Jorge Martin’s Unfortunate Crash at Jerez MotoGP
Kosport Magazine – 05/06/2024
Jerez, Spain – It was a heartbreaking moment for Pramac rider Jorge Martin as he crashed out of the lead at the Jerez circuit on Sunday. Martin had been dominating the race, passing both polesitter Marc Marquez and factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia in the opening laps. But on the 11th lap, disaster struck as he lost the front of his Ducati GP24 and hit the ground, ending his race and his hopes of extending his martin-portugal-motogp-win-amazing-at-a-track-where-i-almost-lost-everything/” title=”Martin: Portugal MotoGP win “amazing” at a track “where I almost lost everything””>championship lead.
The DNF shrunk Martin’s lead to just 17 points, as Bagnaia capitalized on the mistake to take his first victory since the Qatar opener and move up to second in the championship. Speaking to the media after the race, Martin was perplexed by the sudden crash that came without warning while he was managing his pace at the front of the field.
“For sure [it was] a strange crash,” he said. “I will look a little bit into it. I was exactly at the same speed and I braked at the same point [as previous laps]. So it’s a bit strange, we need to understand a bit more on the details.”
Martin had been trying to maintain a consistent pace of 1m37.9-38.0, which he believed was enough to keep the lead and save his tires for the end of the race. But the crash caught him off guard, and he was left searching for answers.
“For sure, I didn’t expect to crash in that pace because I was really early into the corner, I was really straight. We need to understand to not repeat it again.”
Despite several riders being penalized for running lower tire pressures in Saturday’s sprint, Martin doesn’t believe that was a factor in his crash. He and the Pramac team will continue to analyze the incident and look for ways to improve for the future.
The crash also elevated Bagnaia to the lead of the race, with the factory Ducati rider holding off immense pressure from Gresini’s Marquez in the final laps to take an epic win in his rival’s home ground. Bagnaia set a best time of 1m37.449s en route to his third successive MotoGP win at Jerez, having also won at the Spanish track in 2022 and ’23.
Martin hinted that he wouldn’t have been able to match Bagnaia’s pace if he had made it to the finish. ”I saw 0.2 on the pitboard and I saw he was struggling a little bit,” he said. ”But I was trying to always keep the same pace. It’s not that I pushed a bit more. But today Pecco was, I saw afterwards at the track, he was outstanding. His pace was amazing. I didn’t feel like I had [1m]37.4, maybe 37.6, 37.7. I could do it, but not 37.4, that’s for sure.”
Despite the disappointment, Martin remains positive and determined to bounce back in the next race. “We need to understand where and improve for the future,” he said.
Summary:
Jorge Martin’s hopes of extending his championship lead were dashed as he crashed out of the lead at the Jerez MotoGP. The Pramac rider had been dominating the race, but a sudden crash on the 11th lap ended his race and shrunk his lead to just 17 points. Bagnaia took advantage of the mistake to claim his first victory of the season, while Martin and the Pramac team continue to search for answers. Despite the disappointment, Martin remains determined to bounce back in the next race.
