Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1530649
A s if winning a maiden MotoGP World Champi- onship wasn't worthy of enough fanfare, Jorge Martin's triumphant 2024 campaign is in several other ways. For a start, he became the first satellite rider since 2001 to win road racing's ultimate honor (and only the sixth in history). The fact that he won three races to chief rival Pecco Bagnaia's 11 (just the ninth time a champion had an in - ferior win haul) pointed to a rider hitting new heights of maturity. That it all came after be- ing spurned by manufacturer Ducati in June in favor of Marc Marquez for 2025 underscored Martin's drive and resilience even further. It is little wonder, then, that Cycle News has called him 2024's Rider of the Year. Yet back at the start of the year, there were plenty of factors working against Martin and his aim of taking the crown. Along with the fact that he still found himself in a satellite team, and the suspicion that Ducati didn't have total faith in his abilities (which was confirmed in June) still lingered, the rider himself was facing a crippling period of self-doubt before a wheel had even been turned. "In January, I was really strug - gling with my mental health," he revealed in November. "Last season was great. Even after being second, I was quite happy. But in January, I started to have a lot of fears, like 'I will never be champion in MotoGP.'" Conquering these fears was key to a triumphant campaign. It wasn't just that; Martin ironed out so many weak points from the year before. Over nine months he was the smartest, and crucially, the calmest in the class—a far cry from the insane - ly fast but hubristic figure that lit up the fall of 2023. After speaking with several figures in the 26-year-old's inner circle, Cycle News can reveal how he did it. P60 FEATURE I 2024 CYCLE NEWS RIDER OF THE YEAR: JORGE MARTIN BY NEIL MORRISON • PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE Very few riders will know the feeling of being MotoGP World Champion. Only five before Martin have ever experienced the feeling as a satellite team rider.