Jorge Martin has committed to Ducati’s latest aerodynamic package after MotoGP title rival Francesco Bagnaia opted against it, following the opening day at the Indonesian Grand Prix.
With six rounds of the season remaining, Pramac Ducati rider Martin arrives for the first of five flyaway rounds in Indonesia armed with a 24-point buffer over defending champion Bagnaia.
In a season that has seen momentum between the Ducati stablemates swing back-and-forth, Martin admits he is approaching the final events with a view to sampling any updates from Ducati that might give him an edge on his rival.
As such, Martin says he plans to keep using the manufacturer’s latest aero package - which features a revised fairing – but by contrast, Bagnaia says he won’t keep it on his GP24 having sampled it at Misano.
“I like it,” the Spaniard declared in response to his views on the new package. “It turns a bit worse, but I feel I can enter corners a bit faster and carry more speed. Corner speed, for sure it is not better or worse, it is just different.
“I felt at Misano it was good and at some point I want to go forward, so I say let’s put it on and we don’t go back to the old one.
“I don’t have more feeling with it. I can go faster into the corners, then I struggle to stop it maybe during the last part of the braking, it seems to lose more at the front. But in terms of speed it is maybe a bit faster, that is why I keep it.”
Bagnaia confirmed he won’t run the new aero package in order to not lose feeling with his GP24: “I’m not using it, they used it for the fast corners, but for me it was worse. I feel better when the bike moves.”
Martin - who threw away an advantage in Indonesia last season when he crashed out of a comfortable lead in Sunday’s full-length race - had the measure of Bagnaia on the first day of track action at Mandalika on Friday.
Though beaten to the top spot by Enea Bastianini, Martin turned in the second quickest time, just 0.040s shy of the Italian, while Bagnaia was fourth fastest.
