“I have nothing to lose: I have to try to win both races”, says Jorge Martín before his last chance to try to seize the MotoGP throne, which Pecco Bagnaia also opts for this weekend in Xest (Valencia).
The final MotoGP duel is played in two rounds at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, with the Madrid rider 21 points clear of the Italian and with the last 37 at stake, 12 of today’s Sprint race and 25 of tomorrow’s the long test The driver from San Sebastián de los Reyes has no other options than to play it all or nothing: he must win both races and put pressure on his opponent to fail. That’s why already yesterday, in the first rehearsals, the war of nerves was unleashed between the two aspirants and their teams.
“First, you have to win the Sprint”, marked the path of Martín, the lord of the Saturdays (8 victories of the 19 contested short races). But it wasn’t entirely true… The first thing was to make Bagnaia nervous from the first day of training, to make the Italian feel the pressure on the back of his neck until he was suffocated, so that he made a mistake and began to experience vertigo, the suffocation of height, the oppression of the decisive hour.
The Madrid native did it in a Practice – the pre-qualifying session that establishes the positions for Q1 and Q2 – in which sparks flew. Martín closely marked the Italian stuck to his wheel, tested the nerves of the leader and succeeded: Pecco will have to go through the repechage of Q1 today (10.50 a.m.) in order to be among the 12 first and opt for an advanced position on the two starting grids, that of the Sprint (3 p.m.) and that of the long race (Sunday, 3 p.m.).
The battle of nerves between the two title contenders erupted during the final five minutes of the second session. Martín was running with the fourth time, with no risk of not entering the top 10, but Bagnaia suffered and did not go past 14th place, more than 8 tenths behind the first, Maverick Viñales. The Italian made a mistake, going long for the escape route, with Martín so engrossed in his role as pursuer that he also went to the back, following the leader’s trail. It was the comic picture of the day.
Although the most ridiculous situation, in this war of nerves, was experienced when the two drivers left their respective pits after a red flag. Davide Tardozzi, the sixty-year-old Ducati team manager (64), stood in the middle of Martín’s path to obstruct his exit to the track and prevent the Madrid native from approaching Bagnaia’s wheel. An artifice was of no use to him, and that he portrayed him for his bad arts, at his age and with his position…
During the last minute of training, the tension grew. Martín increased the pressure on the Italian’s wheel, to force a mistake and not improve the time, and Pecco was left behind in 15th place, while Jorge improved the time and pushed himself into second place , 3 tenths behind Maverick Viñales, which is why he is in Q2.
“It was a mark on Pecco, more than anything to know how he is doing, his strengths and weaknesses… There have been moments of tension because it is not an image I like to give. I’ve never been a wheelie rider. For this part I don’t like it, I’m not happy because it’s not fair, but on the other hand it’s also good a bit of show, of strategies, a bit of psychological game… I think Pecco has put a little nervous…”, justified his action Martín, who today will not have the wear and tear or the risk of going through Q1, like Pecco Bagnaia.
It will not be easy for the MotoGP leader to enter among the 12 who will play the pole (at 11.15 a.m.), since in Q1 there will be tough competitors such as his teammate Bastianini, Àlex Márquez, Quartararo or Marini. If he doesn’t get one of the top two positions, Bagnaia would be relegated to starting no higher than 12th, which would complicate the race for him in the Sprint and greatly hinder his mathematical options to proclaim himself champion on Saturday, without the need for the race of Sunday
The Italian will be proclaimed double champion if he adds 4 more points to Martín, which he would achieve, for example, by winning the S sprint and the Madrid native finishing third or worse.
For Jorge, his options are almost mandatory for a double (37 points), as he already achieved four times (Sachsenring, Misano, Motegi and Thailand). He also knows he could cut more than 21 points in Bagnaia: he already did it in Le Mans (25) and in India (23). The miracle is difficult, but not impossible.
