Jorge Martin says he would ‘sign up’ to clinch the 2026 MotoGP title with just one grand prix victory, even as he believes he has the potential to top more Sunday races.
The Aprilia rider lost the championship lead to Marc Marquez at Misano, where the pair were level on points, but reclaimed it a week later in Austria. He maintained that advantage in Japan last Sunday, although his margin has now been cut to just two points ahead of this weekend’s race at Mandalika.
The Spaniard arrived in Lombok on Monday to acclimatise to the warmer conditions after racing in Japan the previous weekend.
“I’m arriving well, fit, I recovered very well from the Japanese weekend. But it’s very hot here, so we’ll see how the body and the bike react to this temperature,” the Spaniard said.
Mandalika is a circuit Martin enjoys, and he believes Aprilia could be competitive there.
However, he played down the prospect of scoring the maximum 37 points available across the sprint and grand prix, saying: “That is absolutely not my goal, I always look to get the most out of a weekend, but I don’t know what is going to happen.
“To get these 37 points you have to do many things, make the tyres work well, have a good setting, and the rivals are always strong. The Ducati riders are not stupid and they will surely have done something to make the tyres work well.”
Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Martin has spent more than 100 days at the top of the championship standings this season, including a week in which he was tied on points with Marquez. The Ducati rider has completed five sprint/grand prix doubles across the last nine rounds, but has yet to dislodge Martin from the top of the standings.
Martin, meanwhile, is determined to remain in contention until the final round, regardless of how the title battle unfolds.
“If there is something that characterises me, it is that I never give up and I am going to get the most out of it to be in the fight until the end. If that is enough for me to win the world championship, it will be perfect, and if not, we will try next year,” he said.
Martin has won just one grand prix this season, at Le Mans, where he scored the maximum 37 points available across the sprint and main race. While that tally would once have been enough to secure a world title, winning the championship with just one grand prix victory has become increasingly difficult in the modern era.
“I would sign right now to be champion with one victory,” he said. “We don’t know, anything can happen, a thousand things can happen, this is a very demanding track and an engine can break, for example.
“It is possible to be champion with one victory, but with the confidence and speed I have right now, I think the victory will come.”
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