Qatar Grand Prix sprint winner Jorge Martin says his Ducati 'can be unbeatable' at its full potential

Jorge Martin, winner of the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race in the MotoGP curtain-raiser, claims that his Ducati bike "can be unbeatable" once operating to its full capabilities.

The Spaniard had a storming start to the opening weekend of the season with a dominant display by qualifying on pole with a new lap record, as well as winning the sprint race.

He could not capitalise on his advantage, however, and slipped to a third-placed finish on Sunday behind KTM's Brad Binder and fellow Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia.

The 2023 MotoGP runner-up remained positive in his outlook for the season, outlining the issues he faced and what needs to be rectified in order for his Ducati to operate at its full potential.

“It was a great weekend,” said Martin. “I think we demonstrated the speed that we had. 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.

“At the moment we have vibrations. I cannot use the rear brake and there are some points that are my strongest areas of riding which I cannot use.

“Let’s wait and let the engineers work. I have done my part, now they need to do theirs.”

Despite the issues, Martin displayed a consistent performance after falling behind to a blistering start from two-time MotoGP champion Bagnaia, who won the Grand Prix after leading every lap.

The Italian said he was pleased to return the favour after Martin inflicted the very same outcome on him in Misano last year.

Bagnaia told the MotoGP official website: "It was the first time I think we had a battle together after last year, after the battle in Misano so I'm very happy about it.

"So happy overall, I had to say that the race of yesterday helped me to understand better the performance with the new bike. Yesterday I was struggling to remain consistent on the tyres I just tried to do it in the opposite way and it worked.

"It was important to be first already in the first lap, knowing our performance was good enough to open a gap so I did the maximum and it worked so I'm very happy."

The MotoGP season continues on March 24 for the second round in Portugal.

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