What Martin's big Red Bull Ring crash told him about his recovery
MotoGP

What Martin's big Red Bull Ring crash told him about his recovery

by Simon Patterson
2 min read

Reigning MotoGP world champion Jorge Martin says he is ready to "race again tomorrow" despite his fall in Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix and the time he spent getting to his feet after it.

Martin was attempting to repass Honda rider Luca Marini for 14th position, after an earlier run off at Turn 1 took him out of the fight for the top 10, when he tucked the front of his Aprilia through the Red Bull Ring's fast Turn 7 left-hander.

He initially looked dazed as he spent some time picking himself up in the gravel trap, and was later taken to the medical centre.

However, Martin quickly dismissed that as simply a result of him being winded by the fall, and insisted that the crash was proof that he had fully recovered from the multiple injuries he's already sustained this season, most notably through his Sepang testing crash in February and especially April's rib-puncturing fall at Lusail.

"I am already OK," said Martin, who nevertheless sounded relieved as he spoke to the media afterwards. "I could already race again tomorrow.

"It was a nasty crash because it was really really fast and I didn't really expect it, but I was suffering from the second lap with a really high [tyre] pressure in the front. I was struggling to ride.

"As soon as I crashed I was like, 'No, no, no, no, no' because it's one of the worst places to crash here. The airbag exploded, I had so much pain in my ribs and everything.

"Then as soon as it went down, after a half minute or so, I started to feel better and finally everything was OK apart from some pain in some parts of the body. But for sure now I have confirmed that my injuries from Qatar are already 100% recovered."

Now physically back to form, Martin still needs time to get back up to speed after a long absence from much of the season.

Calculating with his team earlier in the weekend that his departure from the garage in qualifying was his 80th pit exit on the Aprilia RS-GP compared to team-mate Marco Bezzecchi completing 400, Martin said his relative inexperience showed on Sunday before the crash.

"I did a great start," he explained. "I did all the procedure perfectly. But then I was too safe. It's like, 'I'm ninth, I'm in a good place, let's wait and let my pace do the rest'.

"But at that point, as soon as I thought that, everyone started to hit me and it was a big mess with a lot of other riders.

"I went back to 14th, and I was trying to recover. But being behind the pack is so difficult. I'm not used to it, I struggle when I'm in that position, and I miss the experience of the first two laps. I miss being aggressive with the other riders.

"Either you pass, or they pass you. That's the only way. And for sure in Hungary I'll be more aggressive."

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