Jorge Martin showed his usual determination throughout the Malaysian MotoGP race but admitted it “made no sense” to risk a possible retirement.
The Spaniard had an intense battle with championship rival Francesco Bagnaia in the opening few laps before dropping back.
The championship leader finished the race three seconds adrift, opting to bring the bike home after a marginal error at Turn 9 with three laps to go, which could have seen his race end in the gravel.
Martin disclosed that “everything started to work quite bad” on his bike in the latter part of the race but understood that bringing the bike home was the best course of action.
“From my side maybe I had to be a bit more calm, but I felt I was able to fight with him,” Martin said.
“So, I tried it, but at some point I thought ‘Ok, it’s too much risk, so wait behind’.
“But the problem is, that as soon as I went behind him everything started to work quite bad.
“I also had Marc [Marquez] quite close, so I had to push. For sure, when Marc crashed it was a big relief for me because I had some space to Enea [Bastianini] and then I was trying to continue with focus, with a really good pace.
“And at some point I tried to recover to Pecco, but then I made a mistake at corner nine and I said ‘Ok, Jorge, that’s enough’.”
He added: “Was really physical also, I started to have some moments in the last three laps. So I just tried to make it till the end. Nice, important points for the championship.
“Everything was on his [Bagnaia’s] side to win today. He had to risk. I could have battled a little bit more, but there was no sense.
“I mean, I think I could get that first position but it was too much of a risk. I think that’s important, because in terms of riding style I think we were so, so close.
“I think there was no different at all. I think it was more on the mental side, and I think he had everything today to win.”
Jorge Martin: MotoGP is “almost impossible” to win depending on track position
The Pramac rider raised a point about the current state of MotoGP, stating that it is “almost impossible” to win when behind before the race’s halfway stage.
While he gave it his best shot and ultimately secured second place for his championship bid, the Spaniard made his feelings clear that MotoGP’s racing product doesn’t allow for intense battles in the final laps.
“Nowadays in MotoGP, if you are not on the lead on the first 10 laps – so the first half of the race – it is almost impossible to win it,” he said to Crash.net.
“But I never gave up, I always tried to the end. And it was similar to Japan. I was closing the gap.
“I closed maybe four tenths in one lap, I said ‘Ok, you can do it, at least put some pressure on him’. But I had this moment in corner nine and at this point I just tried to make it to the end.”
