Jorge Martin was “happy” to secure the MotoGP Sprint win in a “really difficult” Phillip Island race.
The championship leader dominated proceedings from start to finish, led every lap, and extended his lead to 16 points over Francesco Bagnaia.
The Spaniard controlled the race and at one point held a 3.5s advantage over the rest of the field, but Marc Marquez clawed the gap back to 1.5s by the end of the 13-lap contest.
“Yeah, another victory in a Sprint, I’m really happy. I thought today was going to be much more difficult with Marc really close but I don’t know what happened in the first few laps.
“I was trying to increase the gap and go [at a] really fast pace, and when I saw I had a big gap already I managed to make it to the end.
“It wasn’t easy with the wind, it was a lot, and it wasn’t constant. It was coming and going.
“So, I think for tomorrow it will be difficult. But for today I have to enjoy. I feel really good. For sure the first laps it was difficult to make this gap to [Marco] Bezzecchi.
“But as soon as Pecco [Bagnaia] went into second, I was capable of improving that gap a lot and then when I had 3.5s I said ‘Ok, it’s enough, slow down a bit’.
“The win was really difficult also. It was really inconsistent, so every corner was really different.
Jorge Martin is wary of Marc Marquez for Sunday’s race
Martin’s Sprint success puts him 12 points closer to his first MotoGP championship title, but the Spaniard knows that Sunday’s race will be a tough test.
Gresini’s Marquez nearly clipped into the back of him at the start of the Sprint race, demoting the six-time MotoGP champion to eighth place.
While he recovered up the grid to finish second, Martin was gone in the distance and sealed his sixth Sprint race win of the season thus far.
Martin stated that Marquez is his main threat this weekend, considering both displayed rapid pace in the previous practice sessions.
“I already knew before the race that Marc was [my toughest opponent]. I didn’t know what had happened to him but I saw Bezzecchi behind me at the beginning,” he said. (Via Autosport)
“This was a relief because I knew that if Marc was behind [me] it would have been a different story. Because he was able to keep the same pace as mine.”
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