MotoGP world championship leader Jorge Martin is once again looking set to challenge Phillip Island’s lap records at this weekend's Australian Grand Prix. After shattering circuit records in 2022 and 2023 with blistering pace, Martin could push the boundaries even further with new-for-2024 Michelin tires and a resurfaced track. However, converting raw speed into race victory remains a challenge for the Spaniard.
The ‘he’ in question is MotoGP world championship leader Jorge Martin ; the ‘how low?’ is when the speedy Spaniard might halt the stopwatch in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix this weekend at a Phillip Island circuit ripe for one-lap heroics, but with an asterisk over how best to run a 27-lap Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Martin of 2023 – fast, brash, impulsive, wasteful – has evolved into a new, improved version this season, with 24 podiums in 32 starts the reason why he’s leading reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia by 10 points with four rounds left.“I am stronger. I am a bit better in almost every area. I don’t feel that I’m faster … maybe last year I was faster, I had more speed than the rest. But I am stronger because there are other points where I am a bit better.
“It’s not all about wins. If I can win, perfect. If not … I can live with that. It was the main lesson I got from last season.” “I was close in 2022 and 2023 … but we need to be thinking on the championship and try to do the maximum without taking too much risk,” Bagnaia said, adding that he expects the title battle to roll on to the mid-November Valencia finale in four rounds’ time.
“What he has improved he knows he can win and he knows he can be competitive. This makes a huge difference. In terms of the mental side, you understand it until you are arriving in the very last part of the championship. The abrasiveness of the track surface, untried by MotoGP machines, remains an unknown; tyre supplier Michelin has brought three different rear compounds rather than the standard two to Australia this weekend, where the location of the circuit and its configuration present a unique challenge.
The 29-year-old sits just 15th in the standings ahead of round 16, but comes to Australia off the back of top-10 results in the sprint and Grand Prix in Japan two weeks ago, where he used a scintillating start to vault into the top five on the opening lap. “It’s the first time I’ve ever rode with Mick so that was really nice … to do a lap of the track, I did a few drifts there so I hope I impressed him a little bit.”Last year’s surprise Australian Grand Prix podium finisher Fabio Di Giannantonio is confident he can be in the mix for the top three places again at Phillip Island this weekend, despite announcing on Thursday that his season will be cut short for shoulder surgery after battling injury for several months.
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