Like Luca Marini and Enea Bastianini, Jorge Martin was able to participate in the shakedown marking the start of the 2021 MotoGP season. The Pramac driver, however, played it safe, waiting for several hours for the wind to weaken before taking to the track, before lining up around thirty laps, gradually climbing at a pace.
Alas, the Spaniard suffered a highside during his last lap and finished in tenth position, 3,2 seconds behind leader Stefan Bradl, which however did not diminish his pleasure at debuting in the MotoGP category.
George Martin : “I'm very happy, it was a positive first day. I had a good feeling with the bike from the start and I felt very comfortable with the team.
It's an incredible bike, the power is crazy and I had a lot of fun.
I crashed on the last lap because I went into a hole but I'm fine, and tomorrow I'll do better. »
Indeed, the second day of number 89 was marked by a clear progression, the clock going from 1'58.875 to 1'56.147 after 37 laps completed. The gap with leader Aleix Espargaró is therefore down to 1,4 seconds, and the Pramac driver appears at the head of the rookies on this intermediate day.
“Finding your position on the bike and getting some feel is good, but in any case I think we don't have enough time to prepare well for the first races. I'm not in a hurry and I don't need to be fast very quickly. I will try to progress well but I want to know why I am progressing, and not just progressing.
I felt a little pain in my neck from the fall yesterday because I hit it with my head. A little pain but it was OK. Of course, when I got back on the track, I chose a different line in this corner (laughs) because I didn't want to make the same mistake again. But yes, from the first run I improved compared to yesterday, then each run was better, so I am very happy with my performance, as well as the work we did today. »
The first day, the Madrid native tried to learn as much as possible by following the other drivers. It wasn't the next day...
“Today I couldn't follow a fast driver and I was alone, but that's OK for me and I tried to improve on my own, improve my performance and my style. Rossi was close behind me but we were both going into the box, so I couldn't learn anything. We'll see tomorrow. »
Asked about Michelin tires, the rookie is realistic!
“For me, the Michelin tires are perfect, because coming from Moto2, it’s a big step forward. I'm still working on this because at the moment I haven't made myself any heat: I'm slow and I can do everything at the moment. So I try to find sensations because it's important, but I move forward step by step. I'm not fast enough to fault the tires, so I have to wait until I'm two seconds faster (laughs). »
Credit ranking: MotoGP.com
