Jorge Martin credited instinct and unwavering faith in his ability for his explosive start in the sprint race at the French Grand Prix on Saturday. The Aprilia Racing rider launched from eighth on the grid, then delivered a breathtaking sequence through the opening corners to seize victory.
Martin carved through the Dunlop curve, emerging in clean air and gaining four spots from his starting position. But what made the move extraordinary was how he navigated the first braking zone at the chicane—despite being on the outside of Marco Bezzecchi, Francesco Bagnaia, and Marc Marquez, he swept around them and reached the second apex first. From there, he never looked back, cruising to his second sprint win of the season.
“It was a bit of instinct, for sure,” Martin said after the race. “I had a lot of faith in my potential. I had a lot of determination going into those corners today.”
When asked how much was luck versus judgment, he replied: “Yeah, maybe I was lucky because starting from eighth it’s impossible to predict what the other riders are going to do. I started really well—that was skill—and then I found very well the place to go [positioning on the track], so maybe this was luck. But for sure that braking point was planned. I never thought I would be first after two corners. Maybe I was thinking about fourth or fifth.”
While the victory looked effortless from the stands, Martin stressed the real race began after he took the lead: “For sure it helped quite a lot to be fast in the start, but from that point is where the real race started, so I had to push a lot.”
Despite the spectacular overtaking display, Martin does not consider this his best ever start. “No, I don’t think so. [Today] I just found a good line, good places, but I still think Qatar in 2021, going from 15th to third, was the best.”
