Jorge Martin on Aprilia MotoGP relationship: “I will kill for them”

Reigning MotoGP world champion Jorge Martin says the feeling of acceptance by Aprilia has been instant and is “like my family”, joking “I will kill for them”.

Martin was due to join the factory Ducati squad in 2025 before it made a U-turn on this decision to promote Marc Marquez instead.

Aprilia was able to secure Martin’s signature after last year’s Italian Grand Prix, with the Spaniard going on to win the title on a Pramac-run Ducati.

Read more: The risky game Jorge Martin is playing with MotoGP number choice

On Thursday at its 2025 season launch, Martin revealed he will race with the #1 plate on his RS-GP.

Speaking to the media, including Crash.net, afterwards, Martin offered some insight into the relationship he has with Aprilia already.

“It’s great,” he said.

“It’s so, so good. Everyone wants to be valued, so when I arrived in the factory and saw all the people were so emotional with me and Marco [Bezzecchi] also, I think both of us arriving there was crazy.

“I feel already the love from the factory to us, I also feel already like it’s my family, I will kill for them.

“This is so, so important. I never felt this before in my life in a factory in other brands I rode for. I’m so happy and I think it’s a big motivation for all of us.”

He added: “The first day [on the bike in the Barcelona test] was great.

“I think, already testing I felt a lot of support from the people, who were really interested in my comments.

“But I think, for sure I need to adapt a bit to their style of work and maybe they need to take some positives from my style of work because it was quite different.

“I feel that working with Aleix [Espargaro] was maybe much different than working with me in terms of how I ride, or how I do the runs.

“So, it’s different. But then I saw they were really, really methodical to analyse after the test.

“I remember in Pramac, I was working and was giving my comments, but when I finished, I was finished.

“But here, we still have like two hours meeting to try to understand the priorities, where to go, my priorities.

“And actually I feel like they will work on my priorities. So, that’s really important. That’s why I wanted to be a factory rider, and now finally I feel that support.”

Quotes provided by Crash Journalist Alex Whitworth

At the end of last year, Martin opened up on working with a sports psychologist after suffering with his mental health following his 2023 title loss.

He revealed that he’d lost the motivation to race when the 2024 pre-season began, but says he is now in a much different place as world champion.

“Yeah, for sure it’s very different compared to one year ago,” he noted.

“Exactly one year ago I was going through one of the worst moments of my life, actually.

“So, I’m happy about this because I feel great. I feel last season, well for the past two years maybe I wasn’t motivated to race.

“I was racing and I was training because I’m really disciplined. So, I was moved by discipline because I have made a lot of sacrifices to do my job.

“But now I feel really motivated and I keep this discipline because I had a bit of fear that after winning that maybe [I would think] ‘Ok, you won already, so just enjoy’.

“But for me it’s not like this. I hope it’s the beginning of something big.

“I think I’m training better than ever and doing things in a good way, and understanding why I do certain things.

“I feel great, I feel experience is helping me and also this break keeps me really motivated. I’m really looking forward to start.”