Martin insists Austria MotoGP sprint collisions “not my fault”

Martin triggered a pile-up into Turn 1 on the opening lap when he made contact with Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo trying to overtake him on the inside.

Quartararo was forced into a collision with Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales, who dropped from second after a bad start, which then led to himself, the Yamaha rider and Ducati’s Enea Bastianini running off track while Miguel Oliveira, Marco Bezzecchi and Johann Zarco were all taken down.

The incident is currently under investigation and no decision has been reached by the stewards, with Martin finishing the sprint in third.

Explaining what happened at Turn 1, Martin – who was late to the post-race press conference due to his stewards meeting – said: “I watched it like 50 times and for sure it’s complicated for their side, but also for my side.

“I was keeping a straight line, I didn’t do any esses. I felt I was going to do the corner on the inside quite comfortably, but then some other riders on the outside closed their lines a bit.

“Then Fabio closed on me and he lost control a bit. I think it was a combination of things, but I think it’s not my fault still.

“I was doing a good line on the inside, for sure it was bad luck. I hope the riders are ok but I guess it’s not my fault.

“They [the stewards] don’t know still [what their decision will be]. I guess a lot of teams were complaining a lot about the start.

Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team, Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“Maybe there are some riders who have to be punished, but I feel this is not my case. In case they wanted to penalise me, it’s why I pushed so hard to get those three seconds behind [to keep third].

“In case there is a penalty coming now, which I think there shouldn’t be, I have that gap. So, I think if they have 15 laps to penalise a rider, they should do so in those 15 laps, not wait till the end.”

Martin was also involved in a collision with VR46’s Luca Marini while battling for third, with the latter crashing out as the Pramac rider overtook him into Turn 2 on lap seven.

This was also investigated in the race and no punishment was given, which Martin felt was justified as he insists he is not a dirty rider.

“I mean, for sure I was thinking about it before watching the images,” he said when asked if he thought he would cop a penalty for the Marini clash.

“I was already in front, he tried to keep the position and I saw he touched his elbow on my foot peg.

“So, that’s why he crashed because I didn’t try to push him out, I was doing a correct line. I feel I’m a really clean rider, trying to overtake in a clean way always.

“But today it’s a pity that he crashed because it created some doubts if I threw him out or not. I felt I was in front and it was not my fault.”