Jorge Martin rolls into the Indonesian Grand Prix holding the championship lead by a wafer-thin margin of just two points. As Motorsport.com Italia reports, the Aprilia rider touches down at Mandalika after a frantic stretch that saw him lose the top spot at Misano, pull level with his closest rival, and then fight back to edge ahead once more in Japan last weekend.
That two-point gap over Marc Marquez is tiny, but it is his to defend on a layout that traditionally suits both his style and his machine. Martin arrived on Lombok on Monday, spending the days since acclimatising to the intense heat. "I arrive well, in shape, I recovered very well from the Japanese weekend," Martin told the media on Thursday ahead of the GP. "However, it is very hot here, let's see how the body and the moto react with this temperature."
without us all this would not be possible and the minimum would be that, before it becomes official, we know when such an important change is introduced.
Despite five dominant double-weekends secured by his Ducati pursuer across the last nine Grands Prix, the Aprilia pilot has managed to stay at the summit for over 100 days. That relentless pressure hasn't broken his resolve. "If there is something that characterizes me it is that I never give up and I will get the maximum to stay in the fight until the end, if this is enough for me to win the world championship it will be perfect, otherwise we will try next year," he stated.
Remarkably, the championship leader has claimed just a single victory all season—taking that lone maximum haul of 37 points back at Le Mans. It is a stark contrast to his rivals, though Martin isn't losing sleep over the statistics. "I would sign right now to be champion with a single victory," he admitted. "We don't know, anything can happen, a thousand things can happen, this is a very demanding track and an engine can break, for example. You can, you can be champions with a single victory, but with the confidence and speed that I have now, I believe that the victory will arrive."
Beyond the championship battle, the Spaniard weighed in on the grid's divided stance regarding the demanding new qualifying format. While acknowledging the push to captivate fans, he made it clear the riders carry the burden of the extra risk. "It is logical that there is a disparity of opinions, every person has their criteria," Martin said. He also voiced frustration over the lack of rider consultation on major rule shifts, noting that "without us all this would not be possible and the minimum would be that, before it becomes official, we know when such an important change is introduced."
