Jorge Martín, after winning the title: “Ducati has never let me down”

As soon as the Barcelona Solidarity Grand Prix race finished, the new MotoGP world champion, Jorge Martín, told what he had just experienced minutes before, when he fulfilled the dream of a lifetime.

-What does it feel like at a time like this?

-Well, now the revs have dropped a little, but above all a lot of excitement and desire to celebrate with my team. It was a very long race, but I was prepared for a long race, and I even enjoyed it. I remembered my family in the last six or seven laps, but thanks to the mental work I did I was able to refocus and be competitive.

-Who is this championship for?

-It goes to my people, my team, my family, my friends, and all the people who support me. As I said on Thursday, being a champion was not going to change my life, and it is not going to change it, but the excitement of seeing my family, my team, everything we have fought for, the difficult moments… end come to mind. And I remember my grandfather Rafa, who is not here to celebrate. It is not in Montmeló, but it is there, and you have been able to see it. Also my grandfather Ángel, who is here, my grandmothers, my uncle, he could be saying names all afternoon… Thanks to all the people who have supported me, and who feel identified when I say thank you. All those people are the ones the title is really for.

-Among those special people, his father Ángel, who got him into motorcycles and who has always been by his side.

-We have cried together, and my father is not someone who cries a lot, and I like to make him cry, honestly, because when I make him cry that’s when it’s real. She is the main figure, but also my mother. They have both suffered it at the same time, they are both the ones who have been suffering to keep me going when I had no idea what a crisis was, when I had no idea what it was like to be unemployed. Continue fighting, fighting, my family, my uncle, my grandparents… My closest family. But then my team, Pramac, deserve it more than anyone. I’m grateful that I didn’t go anywhere because in the end I won it with them, and they are the ones who deserve it, and they are going to take this with them for life.

-Did you ever doubt that you could win this World Cup after signing for Aprilia?

-Yes, obviously, I have had doubts. But in the end Ducati has never let me down. Okay, they’ve made another choice, and I can’t control this, so I focus on what I can control, which is riding the bike. But on a technical level they have always given me support. Even today, when before the race I said to Gigi Dall’Igna (Ducati racing boss): ‘Gigi, I don’t know what to do with the back wheel. Please help me.’ He came to the box and we talked for a while. In other words, even in the most critical moment when you would say ‘Maybe he doesn’t even respond to me and leaves me alone’, he has come to help me. They have never let me down. Ducati has trusted me, they have put incredible contracts on the table for me. It’s a shame not to have closed this cycle, but that’s life, and I’m very happy for what’s to come.

-How different is Jorge Martín from January to today?

-A lot. In the end, the life of an elite athlete is easy, but the pressure, the fears, everything increases. From the outside you say: ‘Bah, a young kid, he’s doing well, he has everything…’. But in the end it is clear that we have to put things into perspective, there are very difficult situations, there are things in life that are very hard, like what happened in Valencia, but in the end everyone has their problems, and being such a young driver you have many fears. , and you have to know how to carry that.

-What would you say to that kid from ten years ago who, if he didn’t win the Rookies, might not continue in the World Cup?

-Nothing, in the end he did it perfectly. That kid was mentally stronger than I thought, then over the years you develop fears, you have a lot of information and this is very difficult to manage. We reach the elite very young, and it is like a box of bombs, it can explode from anywhere. So having that head, thanks to the education that my parents have given me, I have been able to know where to work, to be able to get here.

-Have you been aware of the work that Aleix Espargaró has done during his career as a bodyguard?

-I haven’t seen the race, but I know that Aleix is ​​a big part of this victory. Not just today, since I was a child, when he helped me go to training when I didn’t have a motorcycle to train with. And today it gave me a lot of peace to see that number 41 on the board. I’m not going to lie to you, I knew I had an ally. And Aleix deserves this title, and he is part of my team, so I will always be grateful to him.

-What can you say about Pecco, about your rival?

-Pecco is an incredible person. Inside the paddock I think it is admirable the respect we both have for each other. It makes me better every day, because having achieved eleven victories, going so fast, makes me push myself to my limit. I think it’s a nice story that we both shared a room, that we were children and that now we are winning world titles.

-Have you decided if you are going to go with number 1 next year?

-No, no, not yet. It is clear that it will be an easy decision. But I prefer to enjoy the moment. I will decide this later.