Martin “cannot use strongest parts” of his riding on 2024 Ducati MotoGP bike

The 2023 championship runner-up took the first win of the 2024 campaign on Saturday in the sprint contest.

But he couldn’t convert his pole into a second win in the grand prix, dropping behind Francesco Bagnaia on the opening lap and ultimately finishing third.

While Martin branded the Qatar round as a “great weekend” in terms of results, he says he is still being limited by the 2024 Ducati issues he has been facing since testing.

“I think we demonstrated the speed that we have,” he told motogp.com after the grand prix.

“On one side I am confident that when we have the bike at its 100% we can be unbeatable.

“But on the other hand, I don’t know when this is going to happen. So, for the moment we have the vibrations; for example, I cannot use the rear brake.

“There are some points where my strongest parts of the riding I cannot use.

Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“So, let’s wait, let’s let the engineers work. I will do my part. Now they have to do there’s.”

Martin also noted that he felt being on the podium in the grand prix would have been “really tough” after what he felt on the bike in the sprint.

“I’m happy about the result,” he said.

“If you asked me yesterday [after the sprint], being on the podium today will be really tough. But today we had the potential to win.

“I’m not 100% happy. Maybe I was too good on the tyres at the beginning of the race and then Pecco overtook me.

“And then everything changed a lot because I think my front pressure went a bit high. But I’m happy.

“The pace was fast. With two laps to go, I was able to make 1m52.7s to pull away from Marc [Marquez] and almost catch Brad [Binder].

“So, I think we take the positives to Portimao. I am not riding at 100% in terms of the package with the new bike, so I guess if we improve I can be much more competitive.”