Jorge Martin dismisses Bezzecchi in MotoGP title fight: 'Marquez will be my rival'

However, it isn't Bezzecchi that Martin feels most threatened by when it comes to the battle for the MotoGP title this season. Instead, "The Martinator" has tipped Marc Marquez as his main rival, despite the fact that "Bez" has won three of the first five rounds, finishing 2nd in the two he hasn't won, and set a new MotoGP record for consecutive laps led.

"The Aprilia, to be honest, is giving me what I need." Said Martin," Perhaps today was a much tougher race in terms of confidence. When I was behind other riders, I was finding it very difficult to turn, very difficult to extract the bike's potential, but in the end I gradually managed to pull away from them, and when I caught up with Marco [Bezzecchi], I had to try. And I had a little bit more than him."

"I thought, 'I'm screwed.' But hey, I had faith and hope until the end. I never stopped believing I could do better. Sixth is better than seventh, and fifth is better than sixth. So little by little I was recovering those positions. I didn't get complacent with any position and I managed to fight until the end."

Having cut through the field and overtaken the likes of Ogura, Quartararo, Acosta and Di Giannantonio, he was then handed a free position due to Francesco Bangaia's crash. Following that, "The Martinator" closed a considerable gap to hunt down his teammate for the race lead. When asked which of the overtakes he thought was his best, Martin gave the following response:

"I think Marco's was the best, because he heard me, he knew I was coming, and I still managed to get the bike in. It's true that I had to shift into first instead of second on that corner, otherwise I would have over-revved, but I managed to get that first gear in at the change of direction to get good acceleration. Then I saw I had a little more, but I didn't know if I could break away from the race. I tried and I was able to gain those four or five tenths that allowed me to be more relaxed."

As for Marc Marquez, who suffered a massive high-side during the Saturday sprint race and was forced to undergo a double surgery in Madrid, Martin believes the reigning champion will be back as strong as ever, and wished him a fast recovery so that he can battle him fairly on the track:

"I believe that respect between riders is above any animosity or rivalry. If any rider ever comes to me asking for medical advice, I wouldn't hesitate to give it. And now I hope Marc [Marquez] returns as soon as possible. I know he's going to come back stronger, because it's clear he wasn't well. And he's going to come back stronger than ever. I still think he's my biggest rival to fight for this World Championship."

While clearly meant to pay compliment to his fellow Spaniard and world champion, the comment could certainly rub some in Aprilia the wrong way, particularly given that Bezzecchi seems to be the more favoured rider in the Italian factor