Martin baffled by costly lap-one crash as he 'didn't feel on the limit'

MotoGP points leader will examine the circumstances of the crash to avoid a repeat in Sunday's Indonesian Grand Prix

Jorge Martin says he will look closely at the circumstances of his opening-lap crash in the Indonesian Grand Prix sprint race, which resulted in his MotoGP points lead being slashed.

The Spaniard came into Saturday afternoon’s shorter encounter as the clear rider to beat in the wake of a dominant showing during qualifying that earned him pole position by more than half-a-second.

However, despite converting pole into an initial lead around the Mandalika circuit, Martin’s hopes of victory were scuppered moments later when he low-sided rounding Turn 16 for the first time.

Though he remounted and launched a gritty fightback through the field, his charge took him just outside the points-paying positions in 10th.

Coupled with title contender Francesco Bagnaia taking full advantage of his rival’s error by claiming victory, it means Martin’s advantage at the head of the overall standings has been halved to 12 points.

“Everything felt good to push from the first lap, but in the race it seems I struggled a bit to warm the tyre,” said Martin. “Then afterwards it was working well.

“It is frustrating to lose a victory in a place where I think I am one of the fastest, but tomorrow I will have another opportunity, so I will try again.”

While the tricky right-hander has caught out several riders over the course of the weekend thus far, Martin - who suffered an almost identical get-off at the bend during FP2 - admits to being baffled by the fall.

“It’s difficult to understand why I crashed,” he said. “I have looked into it and everything looks normal, so if there is something I need to change then I will look into it more deeply and understand to ensure tomorrow I don’t make the same mistake.

“I don’t feel I was on the limit. Qualifying felt OK, everything went good in the race too.

“I mean, I crashed but I finished 10th after overtaking 10 bikes [in 12 laps].”

Regardless, Martin says he will approach the corner with greater caution during Sunday’s full-length encounter.

“For sure the thing is to do it slower and keep a bit of margin, then push around the rest of the track,” he added.

“I just think it is that particular corner that is a bit more slippery, so I will try to understand the crash and then tomorrow in the warm-up I’ll look into it.

“Afterwards, going through that corner, everything was going well, so it was just that particular lap.”