MotoGP Assen Day 3, Jorge Martin (Aprilia/3) Debriefing: "It feels like he's crashing at every corner," etc. (Full text)

The conference following the Grand Prix MotoGP from the Netherlands to Assen brought together Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and Jorge Martín (Aprilia Racing), the three riders who made it onto the podium, for their debriefing in front of the press.

Although he started from pole position, Jorge Martin was unable to translate that speed into race performance, but he scored significant points, which allowed him to take the lead in the championship.

As usualWe reproduce his words here in their entirety without any formatting, even though they are translated from English. MotoGP Barcelona Bezzecchi

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🎤 Alright, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon! Welcome to this Sunday post-race press conference, at the end of an absolutely exceptional day across all three categories, at the Tissot Dutch Grand Prix, on the legendary TT Circuit Assen. Another memorable weekend for Aprilia, and what a weekend it was for SuperFile Trackhouse Aprilia too!
For the first time in nearly 8,000 days, a Japanese rider has won a MotoGP race. Congratulations to Ai Ogura, who has secured his first-ever victory in the premier class!
As in yesterday's Sprint, SuperFile Trackhouse Aprilia scores a double with Raúl Fernández, winner of Saturday's Sprint and second in today's Grand Prix.
The podium is completed by Jorge Martín (Aprilia Racing), thus giving Aprilia only its second historic triple in MotoGP.
Thanks to this third place, Jorge Martín also regains the lead in the World Championship.
Gentlemen, congratulations to all three of you. Well done!

🎤 And here is our new leader of the MotoGP World Championship: Jorge Martín for Aprilia Racing!
The last few weeks have been difficult for you, especially after what happened in Hungary, with another injury. But it shows how quickly things can change.
Today you secured a hard-fought third place, and these 16 points allow you to regain the lead in the World Championship. All in all, it was a very solid weekend in Assen…
Jorge Martín: “Yes, thank you very much. First and foremost, my first thought goes to Marco.”
I hope he's doing well in the hospital and that he recovers quickly, because I know how it feels to go through something like this. I really hope he's okay.
Next, I would like to congratulate Ai and Raúl, because they had an incredible weekend.
And yes, I am obviously very happy to be back at the top of the championship. Six months ago, I didn't even know if I would be able to start the season.
I missed the first practice sessions. And now I'm leading the championship. It's absolutely crazy. It's huge!

I am really satisfied with my performance today. We made a lot of progress compared to yesterday.
I led for several laps. I knew the Trackhouse drivers were catching up to me, because I was pushing to the maximum but the gap remained constantly around two or three tenths.
I knew Raúl was going to try something. Then I also saw Ai come back.
But I was running my own race, I was just trying to maintain my best pace.
And honestly, I had nothing more to say to them.

🎤 There wasn't much between you, Ai, and Raúl in the end. But when they overtook you, what did you notice? Where did they have that slight advantage today?
"You know, when you're in the lead, everything works better. The front tire offers more grip, it overheats less. I was also trying to control the temperature of the rear tire."
But as soon as they overtook me, I started to encounter more difficulties. I tried to stay behind them, to keep up with their pace.
At one point, I even thought I could stay with Raúl in second position. But he wasn't making any mistakes either.
And they were extremely fast in the fast corners. That's precisely where I need to improve and better understand the bike. I think I still need to do a lot more laps on the Aprilia.
I'm still in that phase where I'm continuing to learn more about the machine.

🎤 Finally, Jorge, you've often spoken about your lack of confidence and feeling with the bike, especially the front end, during the first part of the season. And yet, you're now leading the World Championship.
This should give you a lot of confidence, telling yourself that when you fully exploit the potential of the RS-GP, you can be even stronger.
“Yes, it’s quite incredible to find myself in this position. But, honestly, I remain focused on myself.”
My goal is simply to improve my sensations. Good results are a consequence of that. So I don't really look at the results.
I am focusing more on how I feel and what I can improve between this race and the Sachsenring.
The Sachsenring is a circuit I really enjoy. I hope to have a lot of fun there with the Aprilia as well.
But it's certain that I'm still missing something. I want to continue working to understand where I can still improve.

🎤 Raúl and Jorge, it's always a bit tricky asking drivers what they think of their rivals, but we know many of you appreciate Ai's driving style. Can you explain a little about how he drives and why he's so fast? I think you can probably talk about it better than Ai himself…
“Yes, I really have to congratulate Ai. Honestly, when you look at the data, we are all very close at Aprilia.
There may be a few thousandths here or there, but we are really very similar.
However, when you follow Ai on the track, it's strange. It looks like he's about to crash at every turn, because he leans over so much while the bike remains almost straight! (Laughs).
I'm really struggling to follow him, because I constantly feel like he's going to fall... and then finally, he turns... and he starts again!
That might also explain why he's so fast in the final laps.
I, for one, would not try to fly like that! (Laughter) »

🎤 Jorge, after all the experience you had in 2024 fighting for the championship, with the pressure and all the media attention that comes with it, is that something you can use until the end of this season?
"Yes, of course, experience always helps. But today, everything is primarily a question of speed."
If you have speed, you fight for victories. Otherwise, you don't.
The reality is that when we get to the final races of the season, and if I still have a chance to compete for the championship, which will mean that we have done everything right and have been competitive throughout the year, then yes, this experience will certainly play a role.
But for now, I just want to make the most of each weekend. I try to finish all the races.
And today, or more generally this weekend, was one of those events where I had to bring back the maximum number of points, because I didn't feel like the fastest.
I simply tried to achieve the perfect race, but I wasn't the fastest.
So, to finish fifth yesterday and third today is already a very good result.
Now, the goal is to continue improving my speed.

🎤 Of course, you saw the images of Marco Bezzecchi's crash. Did you experience anything similar at turn 15 during the weekend? Do you think it could be related to aerodynamics?
What can you tell us about this fall? Do you have any idea what happened?
"As has been said, we need to analyze the data. I think that with these bikes, as soon as you follow another rider, you feel like you're losing aerodynamic downforce."
It is therefore much more difficult to keep up with an opponent than before.
And Marco was very close to Marc, so that might be an explanation.
But it was really very early in the race, so I don't know. We need to check.
I just hope he's okay.

🎤 Jorge, statistics show that, in the last 28 seasons, the championship leader after Assen has only ultimately lost the title six times.
In other words, on 22 occasions, the leader after Assen became world champion.
What do these statistics suggest to you? And do you consider this race to be a real turning point in the fight for the title?
"Honestly, these statistics mean nothing to me. I'm not really interested in them."
Obviously, it's better to be first than eighth, that's for sure.
But for me, the most important thing was to get close to the summer break. That was the main objective. Because I know that, generally, the second half of the season goes very well for me.
I also feel like I'm still in a learning phase with the Aprilia, to continue getting to know it better.
So yes, it's nice to be leading the championship. But there's still a long way to go. We have to take it race by race.
And as I've already said, if we have a chance to compete for the title at the end of the season, then I will fight to get it.
And even though I don't really believe in statistics, I still hope they'll work in my favor.

🎤 This was the tenth Grand Prix of the season. For the first time since the opening round, we have a new leader in the World Championship: Jorge.
In your opinion, how many drivers can still win this championship? It all seems very close…
“Yes, of course, everything is still open. Obviously, among these drivers, some are already champions, others have more experience, others less. But today, the most important thing is to be fast.”
For me, the most important thing is to reach the last three or four races with a chance of winning the championship.
Because at this stage of the season, the league position isn't yet of paramount importance.

Classification credit: MotoGP.com

MotoGP Assen Martin debriefing