Martin: ‘I was a bit nervous before the race, I don’t want this pressure’

Martin showed very little signs of pressure as he led every lap of the 12-lap sprint race.

Taking his third consecutive sprint race win, Martin has now closed to within single digits of Francesco Bagnaia, who finished third after a race-long battle with Jack Miller.

• Bagnaia's title lead shrinks to 8 points, 'We know how to manage the pressure' 
• Japanese MotoGP, Motegi - Sprint Race Results

"It was a nice race," Martin told MotoGP.com. "Before the start we had an issue with the sensor and the team was a bit worried but finally we saw that everything was okay and I could race. 

"Then, I felt super strong all weekend and felt like I could make a difference today. 

"Brad pushed me to the limit and I almost had to do time attacks. I’m happy that we won today, it was an important win. Three in a row in the sprint is really good."

Martin will start Sunday’s grand prix as the clear favourite to make it a third clean sweep of the season, however, as we saw in India, Bagnaia made enough improvements from Saturday to Sunday to be more competitive, before crashing out.

Martin could take the series lead with a win and Bagnaia finishing lower than third, but the Spaniard is trying not to think about championship standings.

The Pramac rider said: "We’re doing really well and the main thing is that I don't change my mentality. 

"I’m super focused on this because today I was a bit nervous and I don’t want to feel this pressure. 

"I just want to enjoy the moment. Before the race I was really relaxed but one hour before the race I was so nervous. I don’t want this."