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It’s still difficult for Jorge Martin to admit that Ducati preferred Enea Bastianini over him for the official team. Jorge doesn’t think the ranking counts, but he’s aware that Enea’s four victories did weigh in. Despite this, or perhaps precisely because of this reason, the Spanish rider – who will continue his adventure on the Pramac team next year, stating: “Where I count on being the first private rider to win the World Championship”, as he revealed in Dorna’s video, ‘The Ducati Decision’ – has a very strong desire to end the season on a high note, even with some wins. This, however, might mean arriving ahead of Pecco Bagnaia, his former teammate from his year in Mahindra.
“My goal is to end the year well. It was a very complicated year. I had the speed for the podium. I was fast in Motegi, and I had what I took to do well in Thailand ... If I had had the bike with this set-up, I would have done better. This kind of makes me angry. So, yes, if I get the chance to fight for the podium, I’ll do it,” was his response to those who asked him if he would have done the same as Zarco did.
Ducati’s decision still bothers Jorge, and he judges it harshly. “They made the decision as if they were people in the stands, and not in the garages.” These weren’t words spent on the eve of the Australian Grand Prix but in a collage of videos published precisely to increase the rivalry between the Spanish and Italian riders. That rivalry does exist, let’s be clear. But these are words extrapolated from various interviews, and we know how important it is to give what is said the right meaning. What is certain, however, is that Jorge Martin is aware of his potential and the problems he had during the season, including the damaged nerve of his right hand, which makes him lose sensitivity.
“It’s difficult to know what I’m able to do here in Phillip Island,” Martin said. “I hope to fight for the podium, because I was super competitive in the last races, and I’ve always been fast here. It’s one of my favorite circuits.”
Fifth in the Moto3 in 2018, second behind Brad Binder in the Moto2 the following year, Martin has never raced on this track with the powerful MotoGP.
“That’s true. I’ve never raced here with the MotoGP, and this is a fast and difficult circuit. I have to figure it out. It’ll be difficult, but normally we’re all close.”
