Martin "scared" he would never win a MotoGP title, reveals mental health struggles

The 2024 MotoGP champion worked with a sports psychologist to improve on some non-sporting aspects of being an athlete 

Pramac rider Jorge Martin has revealed he ‘feared’ he would never be able to win a MotoGP championship at the start of the year, as he struggled with his mental health.

The Spaniard said he became scared of losing while heading into his fourth season in the premier class, despite having accepted his championship defeat to factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia in 2023.

But working with his psychologist Xero Gasol helped him overcome his problems and improve on-track performances, which ultimately played an important role in Martin beating Bagnaia to the title in last weekend’s Barcelona finale.

Scoring three grand prix wins, seven sprint successes and 16 podiums in 20 Sunday races, he became the first rider in the MotoGP era to win a title with a satellite team, finishing 10 points clear of the two-time champion.

But while Martin ended the campaign by adding his name to the ‘tower of champions’, things were much tougher for him at the start of the year, as he explained: “I was struggling with my mental health.

“Last season was great, even after being second, I was quite happy. But in general I started to have a lot of fears, I was really scared, like I will never be champion in MotoGP. 

“So thanks to my coach I improved a lot. I was more focussed on the hope of winning than on the fear of losing. 

“If I lose, ‘okay, I'm not dying. This is life, it's not ending here’. But I was without hope for winning - not only for me, but for my team, for my family, all the closest [members].”

Martin made several ill-timed errors during his first title assault in 2023, with his crash while leading the Indonesian Grand Prix often being cited as the moment where he lost the championship to Bagnaia.

He also gave away likely victories in Jerez and the Sachsenring in the first part of this year, but came back much stronger after the summer break, even as Bagnaia continued to drop the ball at important stages of the campaign.

Martin says a change in his approach made him much stronger in 2024, as he was living in the present and no longer dwelling on past mistakes.

“The important thing this year was to learn from the past and not repeat the same mistakes,” he said.

“It's like life, you can make mistakes, it's completely normal, we are human and we make mistakes. 

“The important thing is to take the positives from the mistakes and say okay, ‘I will learn from this and won't repeat it’. 

“For me the key is living in the present. We never know about the future, the future - who knows [what it holds]? So live in the present, improve from the past and just do your 100%, that's it.”