How ‘absolutely devastating’ snub sparked MotoGP title run… and why it will ‘sting’ rivals
Jorge Martin being overlooked by Ducati to partner reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia at its factory team twice in the past two years has fuelled his charge to being on the precipice of winning the world title this weekend, says MotoGP TV commentator Matt Birt.
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Riding for the satellite Pramac Ducati squad, Martin takes a 24-point series lead over Bagnaia into this weekend’s final round of the season at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with 37 points remaining across Saturday’s 12-lap sprint and the 24-lap Grand Prix on Sunday
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The Spaniard is a short-price favourite to win his first premier-class title and take the coveted number 1 plate reserved for the world champion to Aprilia for next season, after Ducati chose Marc Marquez over Martin to be Bagnaia’s teammate at its A-team for 2025 back in June.
Speaking to Fox Sports’ ‘Pit Talk’ podcast, Birt, the lead commentator on the world TV feed, feels that Martin being spurned twice by Ducati has unlocked a new level of performance from the 26-year-old, who finished runner-up to Bagnaia last season.
Ducati elected to retain Enea Bastianini as Bagnaia’s teammate for 2024 over Martin, and then chose Marquez – in his first year riding for the Gresini Ducati team – for next year over Martin following the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello in June, an enraged Martin signing with Aprilia days later.
“Don’t underestimate this … Jorge has not really talked about [it], but he was absolutely devastated when he missed out last year for the factory [Ducati] ride, let alone this year,” Birt said.
PIT TALK PODCAST: In the latest episode of ‘Pit Talk’, Renita Vermeulen and Matt Clayton preview this weekend’s season finale in Barcelona and look at every angle in the battle for the championship between Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia with MotoGP world feed TV main commentator, Matt Birt.
“He was convinced … when we arrived in Mugello, all the senior Italian media had gone with ‘Martin’s got the factory Ducati ride alongside Bagnaia’. Jorge was reading those headlines and was convinced that was going to happen, so to then have it all snatched away on the very same weekend .. don’t discount how much he has used that as a powerful motivating tool.
“That was a proper rocket up Jorge’s backside … that was a huge motivation for Jorge this season, and it’s all pointing to him taking that number 1 plate over to Aprilia, which will hurt Ducati.
“There’ll be questions asked of Ducati … [they’re] letting the MotoGP world champion slip through their fingers because he’s going to a rival brand. Ducati’s defence will obviously be ‘we overlooked Jorge Martin for an eight-times world champion in Marc Marquez’.”
Martin, who has excelled in the short-form sprint races since they were added to the calendar in 2023, can seal the title at the first time of asking this weekend if he wins the sprint, or finishes second in the Saturday race if Bagnaia is third.
“It’s a huge advantage for Jorge, and you do feel like this would be one of the biggest chokes, not just in MotoGP history but in any kind of sporting history for Jorge not to get it over the line now,” Birt said.
“The maths are pretty simple – he knows if he wins the sprint on Saturday, he’s world champion – it doesn’t matter where Bagnaia finishes – and we know Jorge is a pretty prolific sprint winner. I wouldn’t be surprised if Pecco [Bagnaia] wins the sprint and the Grand Prix, but I cannot see Jorge stumbling this late on, he’s been so phenomenal all season long.”
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Martin chased Bagnaia to the final round of last season in Valencia, but his fate was sealed when he crashed out of the last Grand Prix of the year, which Bagnaia went on to win and take his second successive MotoGP title.
Birt feels the pain of that defeat has seen Martin evolve as a rider, where his consistency (30 podiums in 38 starts, and only three non-finishes) has seen him retain an advantage over Bagnaia, who has won 10 Grands Prix this year but failed to finish eight times.
“Jorge learned so much from this very stage last year when he was in the battle with Pecco 12 months ago, albeit a little bit differently because he was the chaser at the time,” Birt said.
“If you listen to Jorge throughout this season, that hurt, the real heartache of missing out last year … at this stage last year, he said himself that it was a living nightmare, he was having sleepless nights and he wasn’t enjoying it. The pressure was a massive burden on his shoulders. It was too overpowering, ultimately.
“You’re always looking at an athlete at that level … that was a situation where they’d gone through and dealt with it, but have they learned from it? Has it made them come back stronger? Jorge is living proof that he has.
“If he has got any nerves, he’s doing a phenomenal job of hiding them because he looks cool, relaxed and at one with himself. He’s ready to embrace the challenge this year, where I think it was the opposite 12 months ago.”
