Instinct and faith, the keys to Jorge Martin's race-winning start at Le Mans

"It was a bit of instinct, for sure," reflected Martin after the race. "I had a lot of faith in my potential. I had a lot of determination going into those corners today."

Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team

Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team

Asked how much had been luck and how much had been judgement, Martin 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."

Despite the subsequent run to victory looking easy from the outside, Martin was keen to emphasise that there was still a lot of work to do once he had hit the front: "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."

Asked if he thought this had been the best opening sequence of his career thus far, Martin said there was a better example from his past: "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."

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