Jorge Martín has taken the MotoGP points lead at Assen after finishing third.
He feels he still has “room to improve”.
Martin already led the championship once before this season, after he won the Sprint at COTA.
This time, though, he takes a seven-point lead into a two-week break ahead of the German MotoGP in July after Marco Bezzecchi crashed out at Assen.
What happened?
Jorge Martín finished third at Assen behind the two Trackhouse Aprilias of Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez.
He led the early laps but didn’t have the pace to beat the satellite RS-GP riders.
Martin was trying to take second from Fernandez at the end but identified the fast corners as his weak point.
Why it matters for Jorge Martín
Martin is clearly somewhat surprised about the position he finds himself in after eight rounds.
Having missed the first preseason test through injury and being unsure whether he would be able to make the first round at Buriram, Martin is happy to be in the leadership.
“Really happy to be in the leadership,” Jorge Martin told the post-race press conference at Assen.
What comes next?
Although there is room to improve, Martin does feel he made progress with his feeling on the bike in the Netherlands.
He lost front confidence since Barcelona but improved a lot from the Sprint to the main race.
Martin is only one of several riders in title contention after Assen, but of the top-five riders in the current standings only fifth-placed Marc Marquez has also won a premier class title.
Jorge Martín does not think his experience of winning in 2024 is of benefit to him at the moment.
“For sure the experience is always something, but it’s a matter of speed,” the Aprilia Racing rider said.
Martin will try to analyse and improve for the next races, starting with the German MotoGP in July.