Jorge Martin struggled to match the blistering pace of his Aprilia teammates Marco Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez during the Indonesian MotoGP round at Mandalika, revealing critical weaknesses that cost him precious seconds and compromised his race weekend.
Despite Aprilia’s overwhelming dominance with a clean sweep of the top four positions, Martin could only manage the third-best finish among RS-GP riders, crossing the line 6.9 seconds behind race winner Bezzecchi.
Martin pinpointed two high-speed corners where his rivals found an extra gear, carrying significantly more speed with less wheelspin-a problem that severely hindered his own lap times. “It seems like on the fast corners they were able to put more speed with less spin, and I was spinning like crazy,” Martin candidly admitted. “There were two corners where I couldn’t match the speed. I was trying to analyse how they were doing it, but I was losing one tenth in each.” This deficit proved decisive across the race, as Martin tried to claw back time elsewhere on the circuit but ultimately fell short.
The Spaniard’s difficulties were compounded by a tyre-pressure issue and a costly late error in the Sprint race, factors that prevented him from capitalizing on the team’s strong pace. Even with these setbacks, Martin held onto his slender two-point lead over Ducati’s Marc Marquez in the championship standings, unchanged from the weekend’s start.
Martin’s predicament stems in part from a lack of track time at Mandalika. Having missed last year’s event due to injury, the RS-GP was essentially new territory for him. “Maybe last season the others already did the step, and this season I was trying to match them,” Martin explained. This challenge will repeat itself at upcoming venues Phillip Island and Portimao, where Martin has limited experience on his 2024 machinery. His injury history also plays a role-he missed testing at Sepang, was sidelined in last year’s Qatar GP, and cut short his comeback at Valencia.
“Sometimes I feel a bit that if I don’t race the year before, I struggle to match their speed, but other times I don’t suffer,” Martin reflected. “This one [Mandalika] was like this: I didn’t take that extra from the Aprilia when the performance was super good.” Contrast this with Marc Marquez, who, despite missing the closing rounds of last season due to injury, has at least accumulated Ducati experience at the circuits remaining on the 2024 calendar.
Martin’s performance at Mandalika exposed a critical gap in his development relative to his Aprilia teammates, underscoring the brutal reality of MotoGP’s unforgiving pace. Without bridging this deficit in the upcoming rounds, maintaining his championship lead will become an increasingly uphill battle.