Maverick Vinales, Pedro Acosta and Jorge Martin react to crash filled Jerez MotoGP sprint race

The MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix sprint race was one of the most chaotic races of the season. Around ten drivers crashed due to wet patches on the track which helped Jorge Martin to extend his lead. Martin won the race as leader Marc Marquez fell off in the final moments.

Rookie Pedro Acosta secured the runner-up position in the championship race, with former world champion Fabio Quartararo clinching third place. The challenging track, speckled with dampness from the morning rain, posed difficulties for all three podium finishers. Speaking about the track and his crash, Aprilia's Maverick Vinales slammed the race director for not calling out the red flag.

In a media interaction, he said, “At the end, it [the track] was 95% dry and the 5% that was wet was completely in the middle of the line. And especially at Turn 5, you could not see with your eyes that it was wet. For example, on the warm-up lap, I passed Turn 5 and I just looked back to see where was wet and all the corners looked dry.”

"So, was impossible to see. Also, in the last corner, it was impossible to see [the damp patches]. After the crash of Binder and all the guys, I think race direction should understand that the track was not rideable for these kinds of bikes. I just passed maybe on the same line and then I crashed without any warning. So, we need to be careful when the track is on these conditions because it's so easy to make a big crash."

Jorge Martin calls it a difficult race!

The winner and the man of the moment Jorge Martin also called it a damp track and said it was one of the most difficult races. After winning the race, he said, “A difficult race, the track conditions were super hard. I had a good start but then I saw Marquez was coming even though I was pushing a lot, a lot, a lot.”

“Marc overtook me because I made a mistake on corner seven. Then I tried to push him and he made a mistake”, he further added. Meanwhile, 19-year-old Pedro Acosta also calls it a difficult race. He said, “We know we have the pace, but it was quite tough starting from 10th after the crash in qualifying.”

“With the mixed conditions, it was not easy. The wet patches were quite wet and it was easy to lose the rear tyre. It happened that I touched a wet patch and went wide”, he further added.