During the weekend in Great Britain, on the Silverstone circuit, George Martin did not win either the Sprint or the Grand Prix, but by finishing 2nd in both races, each time behind Enea Bastianini, the Pramac driver regained the lead in a World Championship MotoGP which he had to abandon in Germany.
By securing big points, number #89 gradually rebuilds its confidence, even if it means not giving in to the sirens of victory, and returns from England with 13 points. Francis Bagnaia, which constitutes a very small capital of 3 units in advance. One thing is certain, neither of them now has any room for error, while Enea Bastianini points the snout of her GP24 at 49 points…
At the end of the Grand Prix, George Martin answered questions from journalists, and as usual, we report his words here without the slightest formatting, even if it is translated from English.
The post MotoGP press conference here at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix. An incredible race during an incredible weekend too, obviously celebrating the 75th anniversary of MotoGP in style, and we have on the top step Enea Bastianini for Ducati Lenovo team achieving your first double, beating Prima Pramac Racing's Jorge Martin, and in 3rd place another podium today for the reigning champion Pecco Bagnaia, also from the Ducati Lenovo team.
Jorge, we'll move on to you. Of course, the summer break couldn't have been easy after performing well for a while, you had to sit down and have a lot of patience to come back and have your right to reply. This weekend was solid and you regained the lead in the championship. Second place was the most you could do in the race, but OK, 20 points is a pretty good thing right now.
George Martin : " Yes it's sure. I think neither the Sachsenring was very bad, nor a disaster, nor this is the best day. No, I mean definitely we have to find a balance over the whole season. I think we are doing a remarkable job. And yes, it’s certain that the summer break was not the best. I wasn't very happy, that's for sure. But yeah, to do a solid result like this is fantastic, and like you said, second was the maximum. I tried to do a really smart race, I tried to manage a lot of different things, the pace was fast, I tried to win until the end, but then Enea caught me and yeah, I I tried to stay with him, but it was impossible to beat him. He was on another level today, and yes, let's try to improve some areas where I feel we need confidence, and I hope that will be the case in Austria. »
You say it wasn't the worst weekend and it's not the best. You sound like someone who is well established in the long term. Are you annoyed by others who maybe make a little more drama, if you're so focused on that? And as you head to Austria, is that a place where you feel like it's a good time to keep racking up those points and maybe ignore the noise?
“Yes, I focus 100% on what I can control. I can't control the fact that someone beats me. I mean if I do my best, I do my best. Today it was second and I hope in Austria the result will be better. But whatever happens, it will be a good thing. I try to appreciate, appreciate the sensations and appreciate everything that happens on the track. »
Jorge, you lost the lead when you went wide out of turn 3. Was it a case of losing the front because the rear was pushing the front, or what was going on?
“For my part, I didn't feel much confidence throughout the weekend with the front axle, I had a lot of difficulty. I think today we took a small step, I think we're still finding our basic settings, let's say. I don't know why we always change a little from Saturday to Sunday, and today it was a little better, but I didn't feel 100%, it was moving a little, and actually behind Pecco I felt good , but when I was in front, I had a little difficulty braking the bike. And yes, when I saw that Enea was close, I pushed a lot to try to keep him behind, but I made this mistake. I think the result would have been the same, but maybe a little later (laughs). »
Jorge, why did you choose Angel Nieto's helmet design?
“Well, the whole bike was (in) Angel Nieto colors, so it was really easy to make that choice. I wanted to do the whole Angel Nieto package, let's say, and this is why. »
British Grand Prix results MotoGP 2024 at Silverstone:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
Jorge Martin Silverstone
Jorge Martin Silverstone
