Jorge Martin says there is no single explanation behind the four crashes he has suffered across the Catalan Grand Prix weekend so far, insisting he still feels confident on the Aprilia.
Just a week after his dominant double win in the French Grand Prix, the 2024 MotoGP champion has struggled to carry the momentum, with a series of incidents denting his performances in Barcelona.
Martin went down twice in practice on Friday, with the first of the two incidents in FP1 leaving him with concussion and a trip to the medical centre for necessary check-ups.
He provided a glimpse of his speed with an impressive lap time in Q1, only to crash just moments later at Turn 5, damaging his bike again.
After getting through to Q2 and qualifying ninth, he was making headway in the sprint but hit the deck yet again, sliding out of sixth place on lap 3.
Martin insisted that each incident was caused by different reasons, but largely took responsibility for his wretched run in the opening two days of the weekend.
“[I suffered] some small injuries. My whole body is a bit bruised from the impacts, there are a couple of sprains in my foot. But nothing that doesn’t let me ride in a good way. So I’m fine,” he said.
“This track is much more tricky than usual and it’s really difficult to find the limit. And when you find it, you crash. So I need to anticipate a little bit
“Behind a crash, there is always some human error, 99% [of the times]. Today, I had some tailwind. Maybe I kept the front brake too much, and I crashed, but this is part of the process, also for understanding the bike.”
Asked if he was angry with himself, Martin replied: “No. There’s always something behind. First crash, cold tyre. Second crash, cold tyre. Third crash, I was pushing like hell and I was on the dirt. So it’s normal.
“And today [in the sprint], I don’t really get it. I will move forward tomorrow. I’m fast in corner 10, maybe too much. So maybe I need to brake a bit earlier.”
With the factory duo struggling, Raul Fernandez led the charge for Aprilia in fourth place, having run in the podium positions for much of the sprint.
Martin believes a big result was on the cards had he stayed upright on the bike and finished the sprint.
“I think my potential was the podium or to fight for that win,” he lamented. “But today is today and it’s already gone.”
Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
Martin insisted that he remains confident about his prospects for Sunday’s race, insisting his run of incidents haven’t dented his confidence.
The Spaniard is set to line up ninth on the grid, three places ahead of team-mate Marco Bezzecchi, who also crashed in qualifying.
“For me, the important thing is to be prepared,” said Martin. “Today, when I was on the grid, I felt prepared for everything. I felt prepared.
“I know my pace is strong. I know the feeling with the bike is good. So if I feel prepared, even if I start 15th, I will be confident.
“The problem is if you are second on the grid and you don’t feel it. I feel good. I feel the bike is working.
“I will try to make tomorrow a good day and try to make the most points possible.”
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