Low profile
“I train to improve every day and, of course, I am here to try to win. Thinking about the championship is not very important to me“. Jorge Martin said this at the end of the Mugello Sprint to those who asked him for a comment from a championship perspective on this second place, earned with great intelligence, which allowed him to snatch three little points from his teammate Marco Bezzecchi in the standings.
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He tries to fly under the radar, the Spanish champion, not to get sucked into the vortex of hypotheses, predictions, and comments that we journalists always fuel. He is right, from his point of view. But one must be objective and honest in the analysis: this 2026 increasingly resembles 2024, at least as far as he is concerned.
With the exception of the Barcelona weekend, where among other things in the long race he was innocently taken down by Raul Fernandez, this Martin seems like a computer: he never falls below fifth position, always maximizes the result and makes very few mistakes. Less, for now, than Marco Bezzecchi. And this can make a difference in the long run. The similarities with the championship two years ago, when he prevailed over Francesco Bagnaia despite ‘only’ three GP wins on Sundays against Pecco’s 11, are countless. The Ducati rider knows better than anyone how dangerous Martinator’s consistency can be.
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Martin knows how it’s done
A comment made by Martin during today’s media scrum also made people think. When asked how difficult it was today to settle for second place, the Aprilia Spaniard replied: “Actually, it was easy. I did my best. If Raul [Fernandez] had slowed down well, otherwise I would have continued to keep my pace“. This is the tactical intelligence of someone who knows what it takes to reach the top of the standings, someone who has already been there.
In the paddock, quietly, many say: “Martin knows how it’s done. Martin has already done it“. Bezzecchi has won three GPs, he only one, yet the points gap in the championship is only 12. And tomorrow’s race, in front of the Italian crowd, takes on a special value: Bez will start from pole, will have the crowd’s support, loves this track and has shown in free practice that he can set a great pace. Yet Martinator, who seemed to have to play defensively, managed to stay ahead of him today. Replicating the feat tomorrow, maybe even winning the race, would be a big coup, one of those that leaves a mark. Martin is clever, he doesn’t say it, but the feeling is that he definitely thinks about the title.
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