Jorge Martin discusses his relationship with pressure: “It will be there all my life”

Engaged in a duel for the title in both 2023 and 2024, managing pressure is part of the daily life of Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia. If one manages it more easily than his opponent, Jorge Martin has not hidden the fact that he is working a lot on his mental strength this season.

In Japan again, the Spaniard confided in the work he does before each meeting, to avoid cracking as he did on numerous occasions last year, in Indonesia and Australia in particular.

This year, his better management of events allows him to claim first place in the championship thanks to impressive consistency acquired over the races.

For example, since the Qatar Grand Prix, Martin has won twice on Sunday, in Portugal and France, while his opponent has climbed to the top step of the podium eight times. However, it is the number 89 who is leading the dance on the scoreboard.

« The weekends are very difficult, there is a lot of pressure, Martin confides in the columns of Marca. Sometimes we make mistakes in concentration just because of the pressure. I have to visualise a lot, be very prepared before the qualifying sessions because in the end, they are the key for Sunday. I know I'm strong on Sunday, and that I can start 11th, but it's much easier if we fight at the front."

« This nervousness, this discomfort, that I have had all my life, since my childhood, is normal and it will be there all my life, continues the Pramac pilot. You have to know how to live with it, so that it doesn't get the better of me."

"The pressure will return to Australia"

Holding the leading position in the championship standings, which only happened briefly last year, does not allow him to ease off the pressure, however, as the stakes remain the same.

"I really try to focus on my feelings on the bike. Off the bike there is a lot of noise, thoughts, headaches, but when you get on the track that pressure disappears," adds the Iberian. "That's what matters. If that pressure or those thoughts invade you, it blocks you. And you don't know how to ride the bike."

A pressure that he nevertheless manages to get rid of once the checkered flag has been crossed. I leave the circuit and it stays there. As soon as I finish the race, I am much more relaxed. That pressure will come back on Saturday or Sunday in Australia."

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