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MotoGP world championship leader Jorge Martin says losing last year’s title in a dispiriting season finale in Valencia taught him several lessons that have proved invaluable in his blistering start to the 2024 season.

Riding for the Pramac Ducati team, the Spaniard went toe-to-toe with 2022 world champion Francesco Bagnaia for last year’s crown, winning four Grands Prix and a season-best nine sprint races before crashing out of title contention in the last race of the year.

Coming into this weekend’s eighth round of the 2024 season in the Netherlands, the 26-year-old leads Bagnaia by 18 points in the standings, and has already won two Grands Prix and three sprints this year.

In an exclusive interview with Fox Sports’ Jessica Yates, Martin said the bitter disappointment of 2023 – allied with a change of approach – has spurred him to new heights.

“The experience I had last season was great, for sure. I couldn’t win, but I think I take a lot of positives from last season to know to deal with that pressure in some difficult moments,” he said.

“Now I feel really comfortable fighting for this title. I don’t think a lot about what can happen in the next races [which] I think was my problem in the past.