Jorge Martín spoke with Motorcycling just after being crowned Moto3 World Champion for an exclusive interview that we bring to you here translated.
What was the first thing you thought of?
My family, and I started crying. I do not believe it. I kept repeating to myself “world champion, world champion” but I couldn’t believe it. Then I saw my father at the side of the track and I really started crying. It's a unique moment that I never want to forget. Plus I won the race and I was super happy. I was a little distracted on the last lap because I was looking at the giant screens, I knew I had a big lead, and I wasn't concentrating. I went wide in the turns, I went through wet areas. In the end I did it. When I finished, I saw on the leaderboard that I had won the World Cup, it was an incredible feeling.
This Championship was hotly contested.
You can't imagine how much. My career has been very difficult and without my family this title would have been impossible. It took a lot, but this year was the key season. I was very strong and the goal was always to win the title. You had to be very focused in each race to win, but we encountered a lot of problems. We had to overcome everything: the falls, the injuries, the blank results, finding ourselves far away, regaining points, starting to lose points again... The year was very complicated, but winning the title this way, by winning and after a few races where I dominated well, shows all the work we have done.
Did your plan go well?
My plan was to escape, but I wasn't thinking about the championship at all. At the beginning, as the track was still wet I didn't want to take any risks. I preferred the laps to pass than it to dry, because it was very hot. I was even a little afraid because I saw that everyone wanted to lead, and Marco was even a little aggressive, but my team always told me not to enter this game and to get behind because I could win the championship with two seconds. I had a lot of fun and that's also how I was able to be a bit better than the others. I knew that once I got there, I could escape. I tried to save my tires for last, and it worked. In the end, when attacking I gave them almost half a second and I think that was the key. I worked well during the dry sessions and didn't take any risks when it rained, but made the most of the moments when it was possible to work. Yesterday was an afternoon of intense work to have the perfect bike for today.
Was it hard to get here?
I have said it several times. I had times when I had no choice: either I performed well or I went home. My father always says that I work much better under pressure. When it came to entering the Rookies Cup, you had to finish first to be selected. Afterwards, once in the championship, we either won or we left. All this taught me to work under pressure and this year I didn't feel it. Besides, even by winning the Rookies Cup I couldn't get to the World Cup straight away because I was asked for 200 euros to race, and that's why I stayed at home. However, I was lucky, throughout my career, to benefit from scholarships, and so we only had to pay for the travel. In the end, everything went very well.
And you are the first Madrilenian to become World Motorcycling Champion.
Being first at something is unique, especially since the numbers are round! 600 victories and 50 titles. It's a great day for Spain and for Madrid.
