Jorge Martin conceded following the Italian Grand Prix that he was “really worried” about heading to Mugello following a tricky 2022 visit in which he finished only 13th.
The Pramac Ducati rider enjoyed a strong outing at the Italian venue this season having qualified a solid sixth before recording a pair of rostrum finishes across the sprint and grand prix events, the Spaniard securing third on Saturday before taking the chequered flag for his second-successive runners-up result in Sunday’s full-length encounter.
This came despite struggling significantly for performance at Mugello just 12 months ago, where he claimed only 13th over 17 seconds adrift of winner Francesco Bagnaia – Martin ending up just over a second adrift of the Italian this year as he secured he secure back-to-back successes at home.
Martin admitted that he was “really worried” about returning to the twisty Mugello track following his woeful ’22 performance, though a good feeling during practice that was reflected on the stopwatch ultimately banished the demons of a year prior.
“I was really worried about this track, I spent the weeks before this race thinking about last season which was really bad, but from first practice I felt fast and from then on I felt great,” explained Martin.
“For sure all weekend I was behind Pecco (Bagnaia) by two or three tenths (of a second), but fortunately today we closed that gap, not for the win because he was unbeatable today but my target was to be in the top five and we are here second so I couldn’t ask for more.
“It was one of the toughest races of my life in terms of physical condition because with the soft rear the bike started shaking a lot but I kept it to the finish line and to take second is amazing.”
Having elected to opt for the soft compound rear tyre as opposed to the harder construction medium rubber that rival Bagnaia selected, Martin revealed that he was expecting the tyre “to drop” in performance towards the end, though at one point felt victory was a “possibility” before the tyre eventually started to give away performance.
“I knew at some point the rear tyre was going to drop and at the one point I thought I had the possibility to win the tyre dropped,” added the one-time premier class race winner.
“Twelve (laps) to go was the moment I could feel more movement at the same points with the rear so then I knew it wasn’t possible for the win, so I tried to keep the distance with Pecco and keep the rest behind.
“The last laps were difficult because (Johann) Zarco was behind and coming hot, but it’s great to finish in second.”
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