Martin’s 2024 MotoGP form giving him “some power” in contract talks

Qualifying on pole with a new Le Mans lap record, Martin converted that to a dominant third sprint win of the 2024 season.

With Francesco Bagnaia retiring with bike issues and his factory Ducati team-mate Enea Bastianini only fourth, Martin is now 28 points clear in the championship.

This all comes as Martin’s 2025 future remains uncertain, with Ducati’s decision between him, Marc Marquez and Bastianini set for the Italian GP at the end of the month.

Earlier this week, Ducati general manager Gigi Dall’Igna told motogp.com that the marque has to “consider all of their history, not just 2024”.

Asked if he considers himself the leading Ducati rider right now, Martin responded: “Well, I don’t know. I am the leader [of the championship] so I guess till now I was the strongest.”

He added: “I think at the end of the season [is when I’ll start to think about the championship].

“For sure it’s important to be in the lead, but I think it will be interesting when we have the chance to win the championship.

“Till that moment, there is no sense to look at it. It’s nice. Since Portimao it was [that I’ve been leading], so more than one month being in the lead.

“This means we are the strongest, this means also some power for contracts. I’m happy to be in the lead.”

While feeling confident going into Sunday’s grand prix, Martin admits Pramac has to find something to improve front edge grip after it proved worse in the sprint than expected.  

“So far, a perfect weekend,” he said.

“I am super happy. I think we did an amazing performance to the sprint. Tomorrow will be interesting to understand where we are on Sundays, but you also score points on Saturday, so it’s super important to be fast.

“I am confident, I think we have some good information for tomorrow’s race because I didn’t feel as [good] as this morning on the front.

“I was losing a bit on the edge grip, it was much less than this morning.”