Pramac Ducati rider Jorge Martin said there was “no excuse” after being beaten by title rival Francesco Bagnaia during MotoGP’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Martin came into Spielberg with a slender three-point advantage over Bagnaia in the Championship standings.
The Spaniard got the one up over Bagnaia in qualifying, out-pacing the factory Ducati man by 0.141s before the Italian returned the favour by winning Saturday’s Sprint, enabled by Martin incurring a long-lap penalty.
In the Grand Prix, Bagnaia poached the lead off of Martin at the start of Lap 2 and never relinquished it, stretching his advantage to +3.232s in the closing laps.
“There’s no excuse – we improved a bit from the start but we’re all a bit frustrated,” Martin said post-race in parc ferme.
“It was a good finish with Pecco [Bagnaia] but as the laps went I saw the front temperature was super hot.
“He started to pull a gap and I tried to push again, but I was too on the limit, and I take second.
“It’s not what I expected today but racing in Austria was fantastic and hopefully we do better in the next one.”
Martin’s consolation prize of second on Sunday saw him give up a five-point advantage to Bagnaia in the Riders’ Standings after 11 rounds of the 2024 MotoGP campaign.
The Spaniard is fighting to claim his first MotoGP title before departing Pramac Ducati for Aprilia next season and once again both he and Bagnaia are the class of the field, as was the case in 2023.
Martin added in the post-race press conference “I feel I had the potential to win today.
“Pecco [Bagnaia] seems to be a bit better at the moment. I did a good race, I think I did a good start, but from the moment I was in second I think I lose almost all my possibilities for the victory.
“Overall, I did a good race, even at the end I was having a good pace, big difference compared to the rest. It seems like now Pecco and me, we are a step ahead.
“More points, four second positions in a row, so hopefully I can improve that result next time.
“The important thing is that I give my 100 per cent, so let’s move to Aragon and try again.”
With the Ducati GP24 dominating proceedings this term, Martin can count on being in the fight for victory with Bagnaia once again next time out in Spain.
