MotoGP Malaysia Sepang D3, Debriefing Jorge Martin (Ducati/2): "it can rain, it can be windy, it can snow", etc. (full)

The Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang offered us the pinnacle of talent for three laps MotoGP, with the confrontation on the razor's edge between Francis Bagnaia et George Martin.

The Spaniard tried to contain the Italian who had little left to lose with a 29-point deficit before the Grand Prix, but the latter did not give up in the face of the championship leader's relentless attacks, finally reducing his deficit to 24 points, taking his tenth victory of the season. It will probably not be enough to bring him a third world title, but what a beautiful and intense battle it was, between these two great champions at the top of their game!

George Martin, he has his sights set on something else, and he could get it in the Sprint in Barcelona…

As usual, we report here his words during his debriefing, without the slightest formatting, even if it is translated from English.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the post-race press conference after a thrilling Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit. Once again, it was Ducati GP24s that locked out the top three positions. Your winner for the 10th time in Sunday’s Grand Prix in 2024, reigning World Champion, Ducati Lenovo Team rider Pecco Bagnaia, Pecco is only the 4th rider in the MotoGP era to win 10 Grands Prix in a single season. Prima Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin sits in second place and leads the World Championship by 24 points with one round to go. Ducati Lenovo Team rider Enea Bastianini completed today’s podium, just as he did yesterday in the Tissot Sprint. Gentlemen, well done to all three! The conditions were very difficult today.

I have to turn now to the world championship leader, Jorge Martin. Jorge, what a spectacle in those first 3 or 4 laps, you played your part, you did everything to take the win here! How did you enjoy that battle, given what is at stake, as you lead the world championship with two races to go?
George Martin : “Yes, I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks to Pecco because his level allows me to improve mine every day. Every day we are stronger and stronger and we have never had a battle like this, I think, in our entire career. Of course, we have always been close, but we have never had a battle with 11 overtaking attempts, they told me, in three laps. You know, I felt strong to do it. I think the choice of the medium front was the best for me. Maybe it was a bit of a gamble for the first two laps, because it was really difficult to stop. It is really difficult to overtake someone like him, because he brakes very, very hard and he can stop the bike really well, but I was able to do it. Yes, I think if I could have kept the lead for a full lap everything would have changed a little bit, but in the end he had an incredible pace, and for me it was too risky to keep pushing. So I just controlled the gap to the guy behind and tried to hold on until the end."

It was a bit like in Japan. Later on, there were four or five laps left and the gap was closing. And I guess you must have thought at some point that there was still a chance to win. Then we saw the small mistake you made at Turn 9. Did you think you had a chance to catch him at that point?
Yeah, I think I did pretty well, I mean, I'm super happy. I think we lost the minimum possible. Maybe I could have crashed too, so I'm happy. But I think when Marc crashed, I relaxed a bit too much. So I thought, "OK, second is enough, just keep riding", OK, something like that. But I saw that Pecco was also getting a bit closer, so I thought if I pushed, maybe I could close the gap, and I started to get closer, in one lap, I think, 4/10. So I kept pushing and I saw that he was also struggling, he was going wide, because the track conditions were very difficult today. But in Turn 9, I went a bit wide and I almost crashed. I said then the same thing as in Japan, "that's enough". Second place is perfect, and yes, we'll see next time.

Revenge is always on the agenda. I'm going to ask you what you think of the last Grand Prix. 24 points, that's the gap. Jorge, you're so close to the goal, what are your feelings going into this last Grand Prix? Because now you can be crowned world champion after the sprint on Saturday, the next race...
“Yeah, we’ll see, we’ll see. I think Barcelona is a good track for both of us. Pecco won last Sunday there, I was second, pretty close. For sure I missed a bit, but we’ll understand why. I think it’s good to do it at home because a lot of people will support us. And yeah, for sure today is not a good day, I mean for the Spanish people, after everything that happened in Spain. So this podium is for them and I’m going to try to win the championship, not for me, but for this people, for my team and for the people around me, who really deserve it. So let’s try to do it.”

Jorge, you chose the medium front tyre today. Did you think that you were going to follow Pecco and that it would therefore be a safer option from a front tyre temperature point of view?
“Yeah, for sure Medium was the best option for me. I focused on myself and I tried it in FP1, FP2, I also tried it this morning and it was working really really well, so I felt I was really competitive with it. And also in case I was behind, I had something extra. Now I think with the soft tyre it would have been much worse. So I think I made the best choice for me. I saw that Pecco was doing a strategy at the beginning, saying he was putting this and then no (laughs), but for me it was the same, it didn’t change, so I’m happy we made that decision.”

How do you manage, despite the pressure of the title fight, to maintain a serene relationship? I mean, from the outside, it looks peaceful. I don't know if it really is...
" Yes, There is not much to add to Pecco. I think we know each other very well since 2015, we were very close friends in the past, now we don't have that relationship anymore, but we are good for each other. I think like he said, it doesn't make sense to… I mean we can fight like you saw today, it was an incredible battle, I think for history, maybe not the last laps, but it was incredible. And then we can talk about it. I think we both enjoy it, and like he said, if it's like that in the future, for me it will be perfect, and I hope it will always be like that.

Did the red flag make a difference to your race or do you think the first few laps would have gone pretty much the same, depending on where you were and how you started?
“For me it was the same. I think I had already planned to attack Pecco in Turn 14. And then I saw he was very slow in Turn 11, because I didn’t see the red flag. And then I saw he was looking outside, so I realized. So yeah, I was very close, but I think it wouldn’t have changed anything.”

At all the circuits so far, we have seen a big difference in the total time of the races with the new Michelin tyres, compared to last year. This is the only circuit where, if we add the two minutes you spent in the last laps, the total time is higher than that of Enea last year. Why?
"Yes, in my opinion it was super hot today and it was difficult to be in the same times as last year."

How confident are you, knowing that this will be the last race in Barcelona with these 24 points difference?
“For me, the confidence doesn’t change much coming to this race or coming to the next race. I think I’m confident in my work, in the way I got here. But I think it’s a privilege to be at this point, to fight with a champion like Pecco, it’s crazy. So yeah, I’m confident, I’m happy that we took seven more points in this race, and all that. I feel a little bit closer to the final goal. But you know, nothing is over, nothing is finished. So we have to be very, very focused and believe until the end.”

Will the fact that you are doing the last race in Montmelo and not in Valencia change anything for you in terms of preparation? Do you feel better or worse on this circuit?
“For me it’s the same. I think I had very similar performances in Barcelona and Valencia. I was on the podium, last year in Valencia, no, but in Barcelona, in Montmelo, I was on the podium in 22 and 23. So I think I’m competitive. As Pecco says, there are some tricky corners, and now in November, let’s see what we can find. There are many different conditions: it can rain, it can be windy, it can be snowy, I don’t know. I hope Michelin will find a good solution, like in Australia, but we’ll see what happens.”

Nineteen races have taken place, one more to go, so how would you sum up your season?
“I would say ‘shity Sundays, loved Saturdays’ (laughs).”

And how would you characterize your opponent in three words?
“It’s hard to say, because it’s just three words, it’s not much, for me it’s ‘champion’ because he’s incredible, he’s really complete, he’s got everything, he’s fast, he’s doing really good performances, in all conditions, you could see it in Thailand and here. I think he’s got a lot of ‘resilience’, he can also, after a bad moment like yesterday, pick himself up and win today. And then maybe, ‘Sunday Man’, because 10 wins is crazy. For sure, right now, on Sundays, he’s stronger. He’s the best, he’s the best on Sundays. So yeah, so far, the last two years, he’s been the best.”