Martin explains contrast between his qualifying and race pace in MotoGP

Jorge Martin has highlighted the main areas holding him back in qualifying with Aprilia in MotoGP, explaining why the settings that work well over long runs leave him compromised in qualifying.

Since returning from injuries at the Czech Grand Prix in July, the world champion has failed to qualify inside the top 10, and last weekend’s Catalan GP marked his third successive Q1 elimination.

However, the reigning champion has steadily climbed up the order each time on Sundays, with the fourth-place finish he achieved at the Hungarian Grand Prix showing his potential on the RS-GP.

The Spaniard believes both he and Aprilia need to work on narrowing this gulf in performance, as he believes he can finish inside the top five in every race by starting higher up the grid.

“I am overriding the bike,” he explained in Barcelona. “Now we have to make a setting for qualifying and a setting for the race. The race setting is good, but with this setting I cannot push too much in braking [in qualifying], because then everything becomes difficult.

“So maybe I need to do something, rotate the bike, or give more stability in braking just for one lap, and then keep this bike for the race.”

Ironically, braking has become Martin’s biggest strength in race trim, allowing him to carve through the field and recover the positions lost in qualifying.

But the 27-year-old also knows that his braking prowess comes at a cost in other sections of the track, and he needs a bike that’s more balanced overall.

“I feel I’m very, very strong in braking with Aprilia,” he said. “Maybe too much. I can overtake riders, but I need a bit of speed [elsewhere]. There’s always a balance, a compromise. Now I have to lose a bit of braking, and gain in other parts. 

“For sure, I’m super strong, I brake really late, but then I lose maybe in another corner, so I need to understand. Hopefully I don’t lose braking, but improve in [other areas and can] be a bit more competitive.”

Elaborating on how his braking ability is costing him performance elsewhere, Martin added: “So it seems like [with the] Aprilia, you can force the front. But then if you force too much, you lose the [traction].

“We don’t have a really good first touch of the throttle. We spin a lot, so if you brake too hard, then the first touch is too aggressive. So I need to brake hard, but releasing [the brakes] smoothly, and then a little bit of throttle.

“If I do everything aggressively, like I used to do in the Ducati, then everything becomes really difficult. So stability is now where we have to focus, and trying to be smooth.”

Martin hopes the forthcoming Misano test on 15 September can help him unlock his potential at Aprilia and enjoy a strong end to the season.

“It is just an adaptation process,” he said. “The Misano test will be super important for me, to understand this.

“I will work a lot on time attack, because it is the point where we need to improve. As soon as I improve this, I can be fighting in all the races for top 5, top 6 and so on.”