Martin: 'I kept that millimetre of tyre for the last lap to push like qualifying'

“I was also managing the front tyre a bit, so I wasn’t braking super-late, but when I needed to brake hard I had the confidence.”

No wonder the celebrations were epic – Martin shattered his Ducati’s screen with a fist of a joy soon after crossing the finish line 0.114 seconds in front of Binder, while his Pramac garage erupted into ecstasy. They needed it after the previous two GPs.

During the first three laps Martin built a three-tenths advantage but that was as good as it got, once super-aggressive Binder had muscled his way into second and set after the leader.

In the final quarter of the race it seemed like Martin had indeed overcooked his tyres. Binder was prodding and probing everywhere and finally made it past, with Bagnaia right behind. Was it all going to fall apart once again?

It certainly looked like it, because Binder stayed in front for three laps, but finally it was the KTM that ran out of tyre in the last two laps.

“It took a couple of laps to get the move done, then as I was going down the back straight I had some pumping, so I thought, oh no, that’s probably the base rubber,” explained the South African, who hasn’t won a race since 2021 and admitted he was in “win or bust” mood after his country’s overnight Rugby World Cup success.

And it was Binder’s on-throttle pumping, caused by the rear tyre spinning and gripping, that nearly brought off the overtake of the century.

On the penultimate lap Martin, Binder and Bagnaia were line astern through the final sector, all ready to attack and/or defend into the final Turn 12. But exiting Turn 11 Binder got a headshake and he had to roll off, leaving Bagnaia with nowhere to go but the kerb. The world champion swept gloriously past Binder and then – in for a penny, in for a pound! – nosed past Martin.

He was lucky Martin was taking a super-defensive inside line, so there was room to get off the kerb and back onto the asphalt, otherwise it could’ve been messy. By then Martin knew he was there and only needed to release the front brake and use all the exit, so Bagnaia had no way past.

“Maybe it was one of one of the best overtakes of the last years, but I missed closing it,” the Italian explained. “When you are on the outside it’s easy for the guy on the inside to release the brakes a bit – and I would do the same in that situation.”

On the final lap Martin got his head down and upped his pace to give no one a chance of another attack. “I kept that millimetre of tyre left for the last lap to push like qualifying.”

There were so many heart-pumping moments, the last coming on the last lap, when Binder lost the front through Turn 4, trying to build a final attack on Martin.

“I tried to carry a bit more speed through [Turn] 4 to get onto Jorge’s rear wheel to nip up the inside but I had a little front lock and ended up half a metre wide,” explained Binder.

Exceeding track limits on the final lap dropped him one position after the finish, gifting Bagnaia what might be a vital four points.

Bagnaia had an eventful race, which proved that even qualifying at the back of the second row can compromise your victory chances. He got duffed up in the first few laps, dropping him to seventh.

The same had happened to him during the Indonesian sprint race, when he said it wasn’t his style to be very aggressive. Since then he seems to have grown some elbows, and horns.

He had multiple contacts with multiple riders at Buriram, which (and I can’t believe I’m going to write this) might have some fans calling him ‘Pecconator’ from now on.

“Today was a race to attack,” he said. “Without attacking I would’ve finished fifth or sixth. With all the contacts it was very difficult. The battle was very intense for the first ten laps, then when I started to push a lot to close the gap to the other two guys I maybe used the rear tyre too much, so in the last part of the race I was missing a bit of traction, but I’m really happy. I’m just a bit angry I lost too many points in the sprint race.”
If Bagnaia got mauled in the early laps of the GP he got murdered in the sprint. He was pushed back to ninth at one point, ending up seventh, losing nine points to Martin. The following day he lost a further five, though it would’ve been worse without Binder’s last-lap faux pas.

Then another of MotoGP’s new rules – so unpopular with so many fans – threatened to hurt Martin even more.

One hour after the race, Pramac’s celebrations were rudely interrupted by the delivery of a note from MotoGP’s FIM stewards: Martin had broken the new tyre-pressure rules by running his front tyre below the legal minimum for more than half the race.

This was his first offence, so he only received a warning, but next time he will get a three-second penalty, which could cost him more vital points.

The only races where tyre pressures have been an issue have been the hot ones – Indonesia and Thailand – which teams start with very low front pressures to prevent the front tyre building too much pressure, which changes the tyre’s profile, reducing the footprint and therefore grip.

And, of course, the next race is another hot one: Sepang, in Malaysia. Martin’s team will therefore have to be very, very careful not to get it wrong again. They all have a sword of Damocles hanging over them.

At Buriram, Aleix Espargaró became the first premier-class rider in history to be penalised for running his front tyre below the limit, because he had already done so at Mandalika. He received a three-second penalty, dropping him from fifth to eighth.

Fourth place went to VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi who would’ve made the front group a four-man party if he hadn’t fluffed the start and got stuck in the so-called jungle. By the time he escaped he was too far behind to close the gap on the leading trio, but nevertheless he set the fastest lap of the race in the attempt.

Fabio Quartararo’s fifth place came thanks to his brilliance and the stiffer, less grippy, heat-resistant rear construction, used at tracks that really hammer the tyre. These tyres offer less traction, so the more powerful V4s can unleash less of their horsepower than usual, keeping the inline-four Yamaha in contention. That’s why he scored podiums in Indonesia and India, where heat-resistant rear slicks are also used.

Marc Màrquez’s fourth in the sprint and sixth in the GP, just five seconds behind the winner, were a reminder that his talent and aggression are still all there. Certainly a worry for the Ducati riders who know he’ll have pretty much the same equipment as them next year. And on Saturday Honda confirmed that the six-time MotoGP king will be allowed to ride the Gresini Ducati for the first time following the season-ending Valencia GP.

The last three GPs are going to be edge-of-the-seat stuff – a straight two-way deal between two very different riders on identical motorcycles. Then the story of 2024 starts two days after the finale, on 28th November.