JMartin barley he was the author of a beautiful Sprint which, if it hadn’t been for a Pecco Bagnaia in a state of grace, he would have won by a margin. Instead he finished second, 2.3 behind the Italian.
In parc fermé and then at the microphone of Sky Martin admitted the world champion’s superiority: “We worked very hard yesterday to try to understand, Pecco was on another planet. I pushed to the maximum, the feeling was not at its best, I’m very happy to be in Assen, in the Cathedral of speed, the support of the public is fantastic. I hope to be on the podium tomorrow”.
Still on today…
“I settled in, yesterday and this morning I was very far away, I understood how to do T2. In the first lap I tried to do as in qualifying but I lost the front, so I tried to take a bit of a gap and that’s where I lost to Pecco”
The awareness that Bagnaia had more…
“From the second lap I knew I wouldn’t have won if Pecco hadn’t made a mistake, I tried to stay with him and learn a few things but I was taking too many risks with the front. In the race it was the moment when I felt worse with the front, then I also had Maverick who was coming up… I push until the end because you never know, it was a tough race but I’m happy with the result”
On the tires…
“For me the Soft is a step ahead of the other tyres, the Medium is unthinkable for me but Pecco is happy with it… for tomorrow there is doubt, if the temperature is lower the Hard will be difficult to choose, the Soft/Medium option will be on the table. With these tyres I feel like I’m pushing too much for tomorrow, this morning I lost the line I had at Le Mans, the races where I was ahead straight away, if tomorrow we could put the Medium it would be better for me”
On Bagnaia…
“Pecco is at that moment where everything comes easy to him, he brakes hard and puts his foot on the gas early: this is the point where I have to improve, congratulations to Pecco who is on another level”
