During the closing stages of last Sunday’s Thailand MotoGP, Johann Zarco was the fastest rider on track before coming up behind Bagnaia. 

The Pramac rider, who is still without a victory in MotoGP, had the chance to change that had he picked off the Italian quickly, however, Zarco chose not to challenge Bagnaia and instead settle for fourth place, thus aiding Bagnaia’s title chances. 

Choosing not to overtake Bagnaia has allowed the Italian to close within 2 points of Fabio Quartararo in the MotoGP standings, although Zarco’s team-mate Jorge Martin would not have been so kind, insisting he would have ‘fought’ Bagnaia for a podium. 

“For Ducati it was better for Bagnaia to finish 3rd and even win the race, but, in the end, we are in a World Championship and I would have fought for the podium,” Martin told Marca.com: 

“If it’s a sixth or eighth place, there’s no need to beat him, but for a podium it’s worth it, especially if you have the pace to win.”

Like Zarco, Marco Bezzecchi, who claimed his maiden MotoGP pole in Buriram before going on to lead the opening few laps, purposely stayed behind his fellow VR46 Academy rider in Motegi. 

Bezzecchi added: “He’s my friend, I wasn’t going to attack him.”

Yet, that was not the case for Enea Bastianini, who is also a title contender although an outside bet, as the Gresini Ducati rider attacked Bagnaia on multiple occasions at Motegi, before Jack Miller also overtook Bagnaia to finish second in Thailand. 

For Bastianini and Miller, both of whom are title contenders in their own right, challenging Bagnaia makes more sense although it could cost Bagnaia valuable points going forward and unintentionally aid Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro.

Another reason for Miller having less incentive to help Bagnaia and focus more on his title chances is the fact he is leaving Ducati at the end of the season, not to mention he has been in better form than Bagnaia since Motegi. 

Speaking to MotoGP.com, Miller said: “Now there are five of us who are very close [in the championship]. There are only three races left and it won’t be easy, but it’s become fun.”

So with three races to go, will Ducati’s position that any rider is allowed to challenge for a race win change in order to benefit Bagnaia, or will the Italian manufacturer stay strong in their thinking? 

The answer to this will start to take shape at next weekend’s Australian MotoGP at Philipp Island, a race Miller will be desperate to win. 

The VR46 rookie was squeezed by second-on-the-grid Jorge Martin as the field charged for the first corner. But Bezzecchi held firm and remained narrowly ahead, on the outside, as the pair peeled into the turn.

A tangle between the Ducatis at the apex then forced them both wide, over the kerbs and onto the asphalt run-off, at the exit. Bezzecchi was still in the lead when he re-joined the track, while Martin briefly dropped to sixth.

The Italian had built a 1.1s lead over Jack Miller when he was ordered by the FIM Stewards to drop one place for ‘exceeding track limits’ (without losing time) at turn one.

“I made a good start, but Martin came into me twice so I had to go wide,” Bezzecchi said.

“Then they gave me this penalty. Honestly, really impossible to understand, because he [Martin] went on the green [on the exit] the same as me. He hit me on the straight, and he hit me in the corner, and they gave me the penalty.

“This for me from [the Stewards] is something… I think who gave me that penalty has never seen a MotoGP race, probably, because it’s difficult to understand.

“But anyway, without this penalty, the result didn’t change a lot,” he admitted.

After handing the lead to Miller on lap 4, Bezzecchi began to fade down the order to an eventual 16th place.

“When the track was very wet, I was very fast and feeling good with the bike,” he explained. “But when the track was coming drier, I started to feel bad with the bike.

“I couldn’t push [because] I was losing the front every time. I didn’t want to crash and make a [mess] of this good weekend. But anyway, the race was not really good.”

Front tyre pressure was an issue for many riders on Sunday, but Bezzecchi felt his problems were simply due to the lack of any wet set-up time before the race.

“The pressure was a little bit high, because I had many bikes in front and I started to drop very quickly, but the pressure was OK,” he said. “Just it was my feeling that was not really good.

“In the wet it’s like this, sometimes you go out and you are quick, and sometimes you jump on the bike and you look like you are on a 125!

“In the beginning, when the track was more wet, I was more fast, and then as soon as they gave me the penalty, I lost the rhythm a little bit, because I was [ahead].

“So I spent half a lap trying to wait and understand where the second place was, and I lost the rhythm, and when I started to push again, I start to feel bad and then I just dropped positions continuously.”

The Assen podium finisher is 14th in the world championship, but a 57-point lead over Gresini’s Fabio di Giannantonio means Bezzecchi is on course to officially seal the 2022 Rookie of the Year title next weekend at Phillip Island.

Martin, who was confident he had a chance of victory in the dry, went on to finish ninth.

Marco Bezzecchi made a brilliant start from his first-ever MotoGP pole to lead into turn one, however, the Italian ran off track on the exit of the same corner, as did Jorge Martin. 

As Francesco Bagnaia gained a position and moved into second following Martin’s mistake, main title rival Fabio Quartararo instead went backwards after suffering a shocking first lap as he dropped out of the points in just four corners. 

Getting swamped in the middle of the pack, Quartararo went from fourth to 17th before coming close to losing the rear of his Yamaha on the exit of turn four.

After gaining an advantage following his off track excursion, Bezzecchi was then asked to drop a position as Jack Miller got through on team-mate Bagnaia for second. 

Bagnaia was then pushed back to fourth as Oliveira was making a significant charge towards the front of the race. Bagnaia responded by getting ahead of a fading Bezzecchi, however, the factory Ducati rider had no answer for the pace being shown by Miller and Oliveira. 

Luca Marini, who was beginning to make progress, then crashed out of the race at turn nine. 

As Bagnaia’s pace began to pick up with the fastest lap of the race, Quartararo was again heading backwards as Pol Espargaro and Cal Crutchlow were the latest to get ahead of the Frenchman. 

Remy Gardner became the second rider to crash out which elevated Quartararo up one position, although not enough for the Yamaha rider to be inside the points. 

Managing to keep Oliveira at bay due to his prowess on the brakes, Miller’s defence was finally broken when the KTM rider got alongside the Australian heading towards the final corner. 

Oliveira began to immediately gap Miller as Marquez started lining up a move on Bagnaia for third. 

As the top four remained in line astern, Johann Zarco was quickly bringing himself into contention after setting five consecutive fastest laps of the race. 

Seeing a chance of victory just ahead of him, Zarco pounced on Marquez after the Repsol Honda rider made a failed attempt of overtaking Bagnaia at the final corner. 

Further back, Quartararo was up another position with 17th, however, points were too far ahead of the reigning world champion.

Despite late pressure from Miller, Oliveira resisted in order to claim his second win of the season, while Bagnaia did the same to hold off Zarco and secure a vital podium.

Ducati’s dominance in qualifying continued as yet another front row lockout was secured by the Italian brand, while MotoGP champion Fabio Quartararo is the first non-Ducati rider in fourth. 

But who shocked us on MotoGP’s return to Buriram for the first time since 2019?

Marco Bezzecchi – 1st

Not a name many expected to challenge for pole, Bezzecchi got stronger and stronger as Saturday rolled on, before producing a breathtaking final effort. 

Narrowly down on Jorge Martin in the first three sectors, Bezzecchi instead produced a superb final sector in order to gain over a tenth of a second. 

Bezzecchi is no stranger to the front row after claiming second at his home race in Mugello earlier this season, however, his pole lap in Buriram was even better than that.

In claiming his first-ever MotoGP pole, Bezzecchi also got the better of title contenders Francesco Bagnaia and Quartararo. 

Marc Marquez – 8th 

Put his P8 aside and Marquez was one of the stars of qualifying. Yes, Quartararo was a challenger to the Ducatis throughout Q2, however, it was Marquez who seemed poised to make a real impression on how the front row looked come the checkered flag. 

The eight-time world champion, who advanced through Q1 with a brilliant final lap, then started Q2 on a used soft rear tyre. 

So with only one real shot at challenging for a top position, Marquez was seemingly making the most of his second stint as he was within a tenth of Bezzecchi with just one corner to go. 

But as he picked up the bike mid-corner, Marquez nearly suffered a highside before managing to make the ‘save’. Marquez still came across the line to improve his lap time. 

Aleix Espargaro – 13th

What’s so far been a dreadful weekend for Aprilia seemed to be picking up towards the end of Q1 as Espargaro went fastest. 

But after pitting before the session was over, Espargaro then had to watch Marquez and Miguel Oliveira go one even quicker and thus relegated him to P3 (13th overall).

After scoring no points at the Japanese MotoGP, starting towards the sharp end was a ‘must have’ for the Spaniard, who instead looks set for a very tough race and one that could spell problems for his title charge. 

Maverick Vinales – 17th

After showing huge frustration in FP4 – Vinales ran off track on four occasions as stopping his Aprilia on corner entry seemed to be an impossible task – Q1 was not much better.

Vinales, who like Espargaro, was beginning to find pace towards the end of the session, but with others going faster the Spaniard was left down in 17th. 

Still searching for his first MotoGP victory with Aprilia, Vinales will have to wait another race it appears.

After narrowly getting the better of Francesco Bagnaia on his penultimate lap, pole position for the Thai Grand Prix looked to be heading the way of Martin before Marco Bezzecchi stunned the second-year MotoGP rider to take his first pole.

Martin came close to regaining top spot on his final lap, however, the Pramac rider again lost time in sector four, which was a theme compared to the likes of Martin, Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo during Q2. 

Still, Martin feels he has the pace to challenge for victory although it will be interesting to see whether Ducati use team orders – something Martin is not concerned about – in a bid to aid Bagnaia’s title chances.

“I can take some risks tomorrow,” said Martin. “It will be interesting to see the start and the first two laps. But yeah, I will take my chances and the victory is important for me. 

“I will also be happy with a podium because there are a lot of Ducatis that are competitive, but also Fabio and Marc [Marquez]. A lot of riders will be fast.” 

Bezzecchi becomes tenth different MotoGP pole sitter in 2022

While Ducati continued their domination of MotoGP qualifying in 2022 at Buriram, Bezzecchi was one of only two Ducati riders not to have achieved a pole, the other being team-mate Luca Marini prior to Q2 getting started.

Over the moon with his final lap which saw him gain over a tenth in the final sector, Bezzecchi said: “It was a fantastic day for sure! Like I said before, I did not expect to make this pole position. My lap was good and I knew it. 

“When I arrived in parc ferme it was a big emotion with my crew, with my guys. It was a very good feeling but also happy because we worked well since yesterday because yesterday I was not very fast. From this morning we made a step, also with the pace. Was a very nice day. 

“This morning I was already good in the last sector but today I made a very good last corner and this gave me the possibility to get this pole position. 

“Overall, I was fast throughout all the lap and as soon as I saw [Jack] Miller and Marc [Marquez] waiting a bit, I said ‘okay I will go alone’ and just make my best.”

Bagnaia expects to push until the end of the race

Despite fears that high track temperatures could make tyre wear a problem during Sunday’s race, something Bagnaia has already faced this weekend, the man second in the championship believes pushing until the final lap is possible no matter the conditions.  

“The consumption of the rear tyre is high but the performance is high. It’s still there!” added the factory Lenovo Ducati rider. “You can be very constant and very competitive until the final lap of the race but during the race it’s always difficult and it’s different to FP4. 

“Let’s wait until tomorrow. I’m hoping for dry conditions but with the step in front that we did, today and yesterday, I think we can be competitive [either way].”

But despite missing out on P2 which would have matched his season-best MotoGP result from the Argentine and Catalan races, Martin left Motegi in high spirits after re-finding ‘confidence’ with the front. 

After a brilliant start Martin then took the lead from Binder on lap one, before a charging Jack Miller came through at turn 11 a few laps later.

That was the last Martin saw of Miller, who took victory in dominant fashion. 

“It was a great race in general, for sure a pity I didn’t try the hard tyre in the Warm-up because I think it was the key today to being a bit more competitive,” said Martin. 

“I made a great start, I was managing the rear a bit on the exit but I saw straight away after six laps when I was behind Jack that I was asking too much to try and keep the pace so I slowed a bit and tried to keep a constant pace to keep some tyre for the end. 

“It was difficult, when I saw 14 laps to go I was a bit on the limit and thought I was a bit in trouble for the end. 

“I tried to keep the distance with Brad but when he arrived with two or three to go it was a shame as second would have been even better but I’m happy with this podium, to be back for the first time since Barcelona so a lot of races, and I have the confidence back I was missing in the front and starting to brake a bit harder. 

“I’m getting used to this bike, that for the moment is difficult to understand a base setup for.”

While Martin celebrated his third podium of the season, team-mate Johann Zarco had a disastrous race as he dropped from second to 11th. 

As low as 13th following three mistakes in quick succession, Zarco took advantage of Francesco Bagnaia crashing out on the final lap to move back up a position, while also getting the better of Repsol Honda rider Pol Espargaro.

After qualifying second Zarco positioned himself for another title at claiming his first MotoGP win, however, the wait goes on for the former Yamaha rider who has lacked form in race conditions compared to other Ducati riders of late.

Speaking to MotoGP.com, Zarco said: “It was quite tough, yes. Clearly, trying to overtake Vinales on the first five laps; I made this mistake and the three mistakes in a row, I lost too many positions from seventh and I have been [left] in 13th position. 

“Then it became quite tough because the others, the top ten group was having a good pace and I could not recover. I did my best until the end.” 

Overtaking was also a problem for Zarco, as it was for many of the Ducati riders at Motegi –  except Miller – something that hasn’t been an issue for much of 2022.

When asked if this was a contributing factor to not having the pace to fight back up the order, Zarco added: “It seems [like it was], yes. We had a big difference when following compared to staying alone and that’s what made it tricky sometimes to overtake. 

“When you want to overtake you need to feel really comfortable as did Jack [Miller]. It was amazing.”

* Rookie

Official Motegi MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Jorge Lorenzo SPA Yamaha 1m 43.790s (2015)
Fastest race lap:
Jorge Lorenzo SPA Yamaha 1m 45.350s (2014)

Jorge Martin leads a sunny morning warm-up for the Japanese MotoGP at Motegi.

With only one dry session (the lone Friday practice) heading into race day, choosing between the soft and medium rear tyre options was expected to be top of the priority list for most riders this morning.

However, hard rears also made an appearance, especially for the Ducatis, in response to the best weather of the weekend.

With eight bikes on the grid, it was probably not by accident that the Italian factory had some riders on each of the three tyre options this morning, Gresini’s Enea Bastianini and Fabio di Giannantonio putting laps on the soft rear.

Yamaha’s world championship leader Fabio Quartararo, who will start just 9th on the grid, set the early pace on a hard front and medium rear, with the Desmosedicis of Jack Miller (hard-hard), Jorge Martin (hard-medium) and Francesco Bagnaia (hard-hard) close behind.

Pramac’s Martin, fifth in qualifying, then moved ahead of Quartararo to finish 0.285s clear.

Factory Ducati team-mates, Miller and Bagnaia, a frustrated 12th in the wet on Saturday, with Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales and Aragon winner Bastianini (just 15th on the grid) completing the top six.

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez, who took his first pole position in three years during Saturday’s wet qualifying, but has been playing down his chances in the dry, fell on his final lap while trying the hard-hard tyres on his way to seventh.

The Spaniard’s fall was an exact replica of an accident for team-mate Pol Espargaro, at the same Turn 9, earlier in the session.

VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi was another late faller, at Turn 10.

Aleix Espargaro, who will head the title trio by starting sixth on the grid, stopped a few metres after leaving the Aprilia pits with some kind of issue with the front of his RS-GP.

The problem was soon corrected and the Spaniard went on to claim eighth ahead of Johann Zarco, who starts second this afternoon, and KTM’s Miguel Oliveira.

KTM team-mate Brad Binder, who will start from his first MotoGP front row this afternoon, was 13th.

HRC wild-card Tetsuta Nagashima had a problem on his out lap.

Just 17 points cover Fabio Quartararo, Francesco Bagnaia and Aleix Espargaro at the top of the MotoGP World Championship standings as the series head into the unknown with its first Asian and Australian races since 2019.

Quartararo’s opening lap accident with Marc Marquez at Aragon, combined with Bagnaia’s second place behind Enea Bastianini, has put the factory Ducati star just 10 points from the Monster Yamaha rider, with Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro also back in the hunt in third.

Home star Takaaki Nakagami has been passed fit to ride despite requiring surgery for injuries to his fingers in last Sunday’s clash with Marquez at Aragon.

The tight travel window to transport freight from Aragon to Motegi means a revised practice schedule in Japan, with a delayed and extended opening practice session running from 15:05-16:20 on Friday. Free Practice 2 is pushed over to Saturday morning with FP3 will be reduced to 30-minutes (replacing the usual FP4), followed by Qualifying 1 and Qualifying 2.

The absence of Motegi from the calendar in both 2020 and 2021, due to Covid restrictions, means ten of the full-time riders have never raced at the circuit in the premier class: Brad Binder, Alex Marquez, Jorge Martin, Enea Bastianini, Luca Marini, plus this year’s rookies Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio di Giannantonio, Darryn Binder, Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez.

Also on track this weekend will be Suzuki test rider Takuya Tsuda and Honda test rider Tetsuta Nagashima. Both have been entered as wild-cards in front of their home fans this weekend, although Tsuda will now technically be replacing the injured Joan Mir.

Following Andrea Dovizioso’s retirement, Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow will be starting his second weekend at RNF, where he will complete the season alongside Darryn Binder. Unlike most of the grid, Crutchlow has some private testing experience at Motegi this year.

Japanese MotoGP – Full race weekend schedule (UK time)

Friday September 23rd 

05:15 – 05:55am Moto3 FP1

06:10 – 06:50am Moto2 FP1

07:05 – 08:20 MotoGP FP1

Saturday September 24th

01:00 – 01:40 Moto3 FP2

01:55 – 02:35 Moto2 FP2

02:50 – 03:35 MotoGP FP2

04:35 – 04:50 Moto3 Q1

05:00 – 05:15 Moto3 Q2

05:30 – 05:45 Moto2 Q1

05:55 – 06:10 Moto2 Q2

06:25 – 06:55 MotoGP FP3

07:05 – 07:20 MotoGP Q1

07:30 – 07:45 MotoGP Q2

Sunday September 25th 

02:00 – 02:10 Moto3 Warm Up

02:20 – 02:30 Moto2 Warm Up

02:40 – 03:00 MotoGP Warm Up

04:00 Moto3 Race

05:20 Moto2 Race

07:00 MotoGP Race

After a brilliant ride at the Aragon MotoGP where he narrowly missed out on a podium to Aleix Espargaro despite starting 10th, Binder went two places better at Motegi as he converted his first-ever premier class front row start into second place. 

The KTM rider appeared to struggle during the early stages after being passed by team-mate Miguel Oliveira and Jorge Martin, however, Binder’s pace got stronger and stronger as the race went on, before overtaking Martin for P2 with one lap remaining. 

“It was a fantastic weekend for myself and the team, you know we’ve been working so hard this season and we haven’t got many good results so to be standing back on the podium is an amazing feeling,” said Binder. 

“It was tough out there today, at the beginning of the race I was really struggling a little bit to understand how hard I could push with the rear because it was the first time I’d done laps on the H [hard tyre]. 

“Clearly I understood really well following Jorge and Jack at the beginning where we were losing time and where I was strong, so I was able to do laps behind them and really figure out where I needed to improve and use my strong points to my advantage.”

The 2022 season has been another disappointing one for KTM, as the Austrian manufacturer has just the one win which came in extremely poor conditions at Mandalika.

With that at the back of his mind, Binder alluded to his Motegi podium being ‘desperately needed’, while also hoping it can serve as a momentum builder going forward.

Binder said: “As the race went on I felt like I got better and better, and I need to say a massive thank you to my team for giving me the confidence to go with the H rear considering we’d never used it. 

“To walk away today with a podium is fantastic, I pushed hard and fought hard from lap one but like I said, hats off to my team. 

“They fought so hard, we needed this podium desperately and this is the start of many more.”

Jack Miller on ‘another level’, says future MotoGP team-mate Binder

While Binder was one of the quickest riders at the end of Sunday’s race, the pace Miller showed out front was too hot for anyone to handle, including Binder.

The soon-to-be teammates will form one of the strongest rider pairings on the grid next season at KTM, and Binder is excited to have the Aussie join the Austrian outfit. 

“Congrats to Jack, he was on another level today,” stated Binder. “When he passed me, he literally disappeared in about three or four laps. I could see he was on a roll and knowing Jack I thought he’d have the Hard tyre too. 

“By about Lap 10 I knew we weren’t gonna see him again. Hats off to Jack and it’s gonna be awesome having him in the team next year.”

After making a good start, Miller picked off six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez, Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira in quick succession, before doing the same to race leader Jorge Martin at turn 11.

His favourite overtaking spot, turn 11 was the scene of four of his five passes during the early laps, which included a double overtake on Marquez and Oliveira. 

Once in the lead, Miller produced the type of dominance we’ve seen from team-mate Francesco Bagnaia at times, but not himself. 

Speaking after the race, Miller added: “I can ride a motorcycle sometimes. [Laughs] I mean, I felt amazing all weekend, to be honest, since I rolled out in the first Free Practice. 

“It went better than planned to be honest. Yesterday I was a little bit disappointed after the qualy, I really felt I could do a better job in the wet. But being seventh on the grid, I thought ‘okay we’ve got our work cut out for us’ but that we can do a good job from there. 

“I knew my pace from the Friday practice and even in the warm-up I was able to put in a heap [of consistent] laps in the 1m 45s on the H [hard tyre] and I felt like that was the race tyre. 

“Once I got going I seemed to be able to pick off the blokes relatively quickly and then it was just left to me and Jorge and I fired it in pretty deep on him – he nearly got back [ahead] – but once I hit the front I was just able to sort of set my pace. 

“I knew where I could push and where to manage it. The bike worked amazing all day. I rode out of my skin, that’s for certain.”

Miller ‘cried like a baby’ on cooldown lap at Japanese MotoGP

Without a victory since Le Mans 2021, Miller’s dominant showing was again a sign that KTM are getting a rider that is capable of victories on any given day.

While two of his four premier class race wins have come in the wet – the other was an unlikely victory after Fabio Quartararo suffered with arm pump while leading in Jerez – Miller’s Motegi magic was arguably the first time he won after being unquestionably the fastest rider.  

Fastest during Friday’s dry FP1, Miller looked in ominous form from the beginning of the weekend as he eventually went on to win by just under four seconds.

“It was an emotional one that’s for certain, as it always is with me, I don’t know why,” added Miller. “I was crying like a baby on the in lap. It was awesome, I didn’t know I had that in me, it was amazing to lead from almost start to finish. 

“When you’re riding or racing like that, the biggest opponent you’ve got is the man inside your head – so I was just trying to not listen to him too much, and it was relatively easy to not listen to him today when the bike’s working as well as it was. 

“It was just a case of hitting my marks and not making any silly mistakes, which is quite easy to do here, to out-brake yourself or whatever – it can cost you a lot of time.”

After finishing outside the top ten in FP1 while team-mate Aleix Espargaro was fastest, Vinales sprung into action during the early stages of FP2 as he led the way from Francesco Bagnaia, who could take a fifth consecutive MotoGP victory this weekend. 

Ducati seems to have the edge after day-one as four of the top five riders were all aboard Ducati machinery, however, Vinales feels he and Aprilia have the required pace to challenge: “It is early but I think we will fight for the victory, for sure.  

“If we work well we will fight for the victory because the bike is working well, I’m feeling really motivated and I feel like I’m riding well on the track. We can accomplish an amazing result.”

‘I never felt that improvement before in my life’ – Vinales

Following a difficult start to his tenure at Aprilia, Vinales now appears to be a different rider every time he takes to the circuit. 

With his well-documented problems with Yamaha well and truly behind him, Vinales has begun to show the type of consistency that was lacking during his time with the Japanese manufacturer, something he believes has been largely helped by his new team.

“I never felt that improvement before in my life,” said Vinales when speaking about the turnaround since this time last year. “More than one second per lap in terms of rhythm. It’s amazing. 

“It’s huge the difference and also the feeling I have on the bike, the way I ride on the track, the confidence. Everything is better and with Aprilia I think we work in a fantastic way. 

“It’s just the beginning of our relationship, so I feel myself [being] very strong in the future. Very, very strong.”

While Vinales might be one of the most in-form riders on the grid currently, his home round didn’t get off to the greatest of starts following confusion at the end of FP1.

After seeing the message ‘box’ on his pit board, Vinales returned to pit lane thinking he was going to swap to new tyres, however, that was far from the case: “The last run when I went out the tyres were very used. The front was destroyed so I could not push. 

“When I saw box on the pit board I thought they [would] put new tyres. That’s why I went in. I was expecting to get new tyres but when I went in they said ‘no, no, no’. 

“It was just a shock because I was expecting to put new tyres. But it was good to keep the same tyres in the morning and then start new ones in the afternoon because the rhythm was completely different.” 

Martin ‘one of two tenths’ away from fighting for Aragon MotoGP victory 

Despite topping the opening day of practice at the Aragon MotoGP, Jorge Martin was not entirely pleased after claiming to be ‘one or two tenths from the victory’. 

“Well, it’s only Friday but for sure it’s better to be first than to be 15th, that’s for sure. But the feeling today wasn’t great,” said Martin. 

“In terms of pace I’m not far away, just one or two tenths away from the victory I feel. I need to improve the front and rear feeling a little bit. I’m not super confident. I hope to make a small step tomorrow.” 

A factor to consider for the race is tyre degradation which seems to be higher than previous years. 

In fact, Martin believes the tyre drop in Sunday’s race could be as bad as Barcelona, one of the most severe tracks when it comes to grip in the final stages of a race. 

Martin added: “I feel like it will be a managing race and the drop is amazing. It’s starting to be like Montmelo where the grip is just for one or two laps. 

“I think the rider that manages better the rear [tyre] will be the one that will win on Sunday.”