Factory Aprilia rider Jorge Martin has admitted that he is struggling to shake off the memories of his crash-strewn weekend at the recent Catalan GP.
Martin, who fell six times across the four days of race and test action in Barcelona, was speaking after a reasonable first day's work on Friday at Mugello, where the Italian Grand Prix takes place on Sunday.
The Spaniard needed a last-gasp lap at the end of Practice to ensure he made it directly into Saturday's Q2 session. Eighth-fastest time did the job, but he said he had to dig deep to overcome a post-Barcelona confidence wobble.
"After all those crashes, I always feel that I'm about to crash," reported the 2024 world champion. "I need to work on my confidence.
"I'm used to crashes. This is part of our sport. But for sure, when you crash six times... you lose the confidence.
"Today I was braking and I was thinking, 'Maybe I'm [about to crash]'. But I didn't. That's how, lap by lap, I'm building that confidence.
"During the practice, I improved a lot. I hope that tomorrow I wake up with more confidence. Then I can attack again."
Martin also revealed that he had forgotten to breathe properly on that final desperate lap, which was required following earlier interruptions from a red flag and traffic.
"Today I feel like I pushed my limits. I did [a 1m45.132s lap with] no breathing.
"So after the lap, I was struggling to breathe. I'm still exhausted from the effort, but you know, this is our sport. It's not easy and I did my best."
Asked to confirm if he really had ridden a couple of sectors with something akin to sleep apnea, he replied: "I think so, I think so, absolutely. I had a feeling I never had before, so that means that I pushed to my limit."
Regarding the injury he picked up in the final Barcelona crash, details of which he revealed yesterday, Martin said he had felt "quite a lot of pain" in the morning before the situation improved later in the day.
He confirmed that painkillers would be on the menu as the weekend unfolded: "Yes, absolutely, I will take something. I'm feeling quite OK, but, you know, it's getting inflamed and I need to control this."
