Jorge Martin has confessed that he faced difficulties during the practice sessions of the Indonesian Grand Prix, although he managed to place himself in third position. The Aprilia Racing Team rider attributes this performance to problems with the tire temperature.
Raúl Fernández has been the one to set the pace in the session with a new lap record, while Martin finished 0.481 seconds behind his mark. Martin was also surpassed during the first practice by his teammate, Marco Bezzecchi, who took 0.26 seconds from him.
Despite surpassing his major title rival, Marc Marquez, Martin expressed disappointment with his performance. He explained that he had difficulties in getting the front tire to warm up properly: ‘I had some problems with the front tire. It was cooling down too much and I lost confidence, which made me commit many mistakes during the laps.’
Even though Martin stated he felt fast, he was unable to take advantage of it during practice: ‘The thing is, I couldn’t complete fast laps. When I made a push to achieve a good time, everything returned to normal with the front tire, but I was lacking a bit to make a great lap.’ Martin trusts he can solve his temperature issues before Sunday’s race.
The Mandalika circuit, with its 4.3 km, is a place where Martin showed great competition in the past, winning there with the Pramac Ducati in 2024. Now, he hopes the team can find solutions to improve tire performance and offer him more confidence during the races.
Additionally, the Aprilia rider expressed concern about Marquez’s pace, who finished fifth, just two-tenths behind him: ‘Marc is a great competitor and knows how to improve. The difference in pace is not that great, so I am alert.’ Currently, Martin leads the championship with a two-point advantage over Marquez, while Bezzecchi is 49 points behind.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
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