Martin ‘doesn’t have to get obsessed’ with beating MotoGP title rival Bagnaia

The Pramac rider converted pole to his fifth-successive sprint victory and seventh of the season to cut Bagnaia’s championship lead down to 18 points.

Having started sixth, Bagnaia could do no more than seventh in the sprint, later blaming time lost at the start and being stuck behind a “useless” battle between Johann Zarco and Alex Marquez for compromising him.

Martin’s sprint win comes just a week on from losing the Australian GP victory on the last lap when his soft tyre gamble failed, which also followed a crash out of a comfortable lead in the Indonesian GP.

“It's a good time to start knowing how many risks to take,” Martin said.

“Today I had to take advantage of Pecco's seventh position to recover points, and I had to win. But we don't have to get obsessed with him.”

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

He added: “Well, for sure always recovering points is great. I’m in a position where I have to take risks, and today I took it.

“When Brad [Binder] was second I had to push a little bit more, and maybe I crash, maybe not. But I tried to be on the track and be safe till the end."

Martin said after Friday’s practice sessions that he felt more ready for the sprint than the grand prix, but conceded after Saturday’s contest he wasn’t sure just where in the pecking order he was going to emerge.

“I mean, it was difficult for me to understand how the sprint was going to be because I was always with really used tyres [in practice],” he said.

“So, I saw the pace of maybe Fabio [Quartararo], [Marco] Bezzecchi and even Pecco, who was faster with new tyres.

“So, I didn’t understand exactly where my position was. But finally, I thought I was going to be competitive, and I was, even though I feel like I was expecting more grip in the last five laps.

“I used a bit too much tyre in the first laps, but in the sprint it’s ok, we can use it. But tomorrow we need to be more calm in the first laps and keep the tyre to the end.”