Jorge Martin makes people sit up and take notice: He can fight with Marc Marquez in the Aragon GP!

The MotoGP return to Aragon has so far turned into a pure Marc Marquez festival: The Gresini rider first secured all three best times in training and then put more than eight tenths between himself and his closest rival in qualifying. Highly favored, Marquez finally achieved his first MotoGP victory since November 2021 in the sprint – albeit only on Saturday and not (yet) in the Grand Prix.

After his gala performance in the sprint, in which the MotoGP superstar led every single lap, it seems only a matter of hours before he will be standing on the top step of a Grand Prix podium again in a main race. Marquez had amassed a lead of 3.958 seconds by the start of the last lap, and on average he was gaining four tenths per lap on second-placed Jorge Martin. It is hard to imagine that the picture will change dramatically on Sunday – and yet the new world championship leader made people sit up and take notice after the sprint.

Jorge Martin hopes for equal opportunities with secondary school leaving certificate

“That was a fantastic sprint, because after the crash in qualifying it was difficult for me to regain my full confidence. I tried to stay with Marc and thought that I might be able to do something at the end, but it was impossible. Congratulations to Marc! But I'm confident that I can take another step and fight with him on Sunday,” Martin announced in the Parc Ferme interview immediately after the sprint ended. A surprising statement, since no rider has been able to keep up with Marquez in Aragon so far. Where does the Pramac star get the confidence that he can change that in the Grand Prix on Sunday?

Well, as is often the case, the answer lies in a combination of factors. Firstly, there are the tyres: In the entire sprint, Martin had to start with the soft rear tyre, like the rest of the field, which is not one of his favourites. In the main race, however, the medium tyre can also be used, which may be an advantage for him. “We have already made great progress today with the soft rear, which I normally feel the worst with. So I hope that I will be a bit faster with the medium, which I have used the most of all the riders here,” Martin describes in his media round. “Marc is still superior, but with the medium the conditions are evenly distributed. We will see what happens. If I can stay with him until the end, why not?” he asks.

Jorge Martin closer to Marc Marquez without qualifying crash?

Curiously, Martin's crash in qualifying is also giving hope to all fans. This is because it has probably shifted the actual balance of power somewhat. On the one hand, the Pramac rider may have lost some confidence in his own motorcycle as a result of his crash, which he had to regain in the sprint. The first few laps of the race were the first on the repaired bike, so he certainly didn't ride at the limit at the start of the sprint and lost some time. On Sunday, Martin can attack again without worry. If he can take the lead, anything seems possible, as the difficulties of overtaking in modern MotoGP are well known.

Sure, with a much superior pace, a rider like Marc Marquez should be able to find a way past Martin even if he gets off to a bad start. But is his speed really that superior? Martin's qualifying crash meant that he left Q2 without a recorded lap time in the last few minutes. The world championship leader therefore had to concentrate on putting himself in a good starting position with a solid lap, rather than taking full risks and attacking pole position in the final outing. That will certainly have cost him a few tenths and thus second place on the grid.

“If I had to pick a rival, it would be Jorge, because in Q2, without the crash, he would have been second, much like our times. In the race, he was the only one who could react when I pushed hard in the first few laps,” Marquez himself knows. The MotoGP superstar is therefore not expecting a leisurely ride to his first Grand Prix victory for more than 1,000 days. Rather, the Gresini rider says that he still has a lot of work ahead of him. You can find all the information here:

Whether Martin can really challenge Marquez will be seen on Sunday from 2 p.m. What do you think: Will Martin pull off a surprise or will Marquez return to the top step of the podium? Tell us your opinion in the comments!