MotoGP Austin, a good second place for Martin
In Austin, Aprilia offered a clear show of strength, clinching their sixth victory in the last seven GPs, the fifth in a row (all signed by Marco Bezzecchi). COTA sees the RS-GP26s of Bez and Jorge Martin prevail over the Ducatis, right in Marc Marquez’s stronghold. And now the Noale-based manufacturer can no longer hide: Bezzecchi is the championship leader, the Spaniard follows at -4 and is competitive even if not yet at 100%.
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Martin’s words
The 2024 world champion, second today behind his teammate, admitted he is not yet at his best after the collarbone injury in Motegi: “I caught up with Marco a bit, but my left arm held up until two laps from the end, then it gave out. I no longer had the strength to brake, I was struggling a lot and finishing the race was positive”, this was the comment of #89 to Sky Sport MotoGP.
“I have recovered, but I lack strength especially in the wrist. I compensate with the shoulder, but then I struggle in that area. Now it’s important to take a few days of rest, surely with a track with many right-hand corners I will suffer less”.
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“It was a truly long race, but I was ready”, he added. “At the beginning I definitely had something more, I could attack but I decided to wait. Unfortunately, the front heated up a lot and I started to struggle, more than usual, while with the rear I was quite okay. When Pedro let me go, I tried to execute yesterday’s strategy, but Marco didn’t make any mistakes and was hard to beat”.
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