Jorge Martin expresses his frustration with the vibration problems he experienced during pre-season testing in Qatar. Although he managed to clock 1'51,4 despite these problems, he knows he could have been faster without these disruptions. These vibrations, which appear to be a problem specific to his bikes, affected his confidence and his ability to push fully during testing.
Trois Ducati and three Aprilia faster than him, a 7th place, synonymous with fourth best Ducati, this is certainly not the assessment that George Martin hoped to draw from these last tests of an off-season which ended on the Losail track. He recounts the causes of his frustration thus: “ from the start I had strange vibrations coming from behind and affecting the body and transferring to the whole bike. I struggled with this throughout the test ».
A problem that only affected him in the clan Ducati ... " In these conditions, it will be very difficult to fight for victory. I have no chance of opening the throttle as much as I want because the bike is shaking so much ". To escape this trap, he calls for the mobilization of his team: “ clutch, swingarm, frame: it could be anything. So take this thing out and give me something brand new for the race! ».
Jorge Martin: “ I can only hope that my team manages to regain control by FP1! I haven't forgotten how to drive »
Because without that, the Martinator knows that he can play in front and resume his duel with a Pecco Bagnaia, currently on cloud nine given his times…” The average times in 1'52 are quite easy even with worn tires. This is a second faster than in the last race last year. So it's good. My 1'51,4 wasn't a big problem. Okay, I pushed, but not crazy. It was the first fast attempt with the soft tires. If I had wanted, a few faster laps would have been possible with this tire – maybe faster than 1'51,4 – despite the vibrations ».
George Martin ends his analysis thus: “ if everything fits and the bike stays still, I'm incredibly fast. But I was hardly in this situation. I can only hope that my team manages to regain control by FP1! I haven't forgotten how to fly. I am in good physical shape. And the Ducati has become a second faster since the last race. Overall, we are very, very competitive ».
MotoGP Test Losail J2: times
Credit classification motogp.com
