Marc Marquez doesn’t back Aprilia’s Jorge Martin MotoGP test proposal for 2025

Marc Marquez believes allowing injured MotoGP riders to test before their racing comebacks “can be a good rule” but not for immediate introduction, following Aprilia's requested for Jorge Martin.

Reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Martin missed all of pre-season testing this year due to multiple fractures from a crash on day one of winter running at Sepang.

He second fall during training ahead of the Thai Grand Prix resulted in him fracturing his wrist and has ruled him out until at least the Qatar GP next month.

Having only completed 90 laps on the factory Aprilia since last November, Aprilia has officially lodged a request to allow Martin to test the RS-GP prior to his racing comeback.

Under the current concession rules, only Honda and Yamaha are allowed to test in-season with its race riders on MotoGP machinery.

While there has been support for the proposal, Ducati has publicly said it would not back this rule change taking place this year but is open to it being introduced in future.

Marc Marquez echoes this sentiment, though believes one day of testing after a long time away from the bike won’t make much difference.

“It can be a good rule, but for the future,” he is reported by GPOne as saying on the matter.

“At the moment the regulation is not like that. When I cam back from my injury [in 2021] this rule was not there.

“You could introduce a rule to allow a rider who is out of competition for two months to do one day of testing - not more, because two days would already be too much.

“One day of testing is enough to get the rhythm with the bike.

“You could put a minimum time [in place], but the teams have to decide. For the riders it’s important, but in the end when you go two months without riding a MotoGP bike, one more or less day of testing doesn’t change much.

“You need time to get you rhythm back.”

Should MotoGP bend testing rules just for one rider?

Ducati’s reticence to back Aprilia’s proposal to bend the testing rules is understandable, given it had several scenarios in recent years where this would have been beneficial.

Franco Morbidelli missed all of pre-season testing due to suffering a concussion in a winter training incident, and didn’t have any time on his new Ducati until the opening round of the season in Qatar.

Enea Bastianini also missed the first five grands prix of 2023 to injury, as well as a further four later in the year, that severely limited his time in adapting to the GP23.

But that is true of all manufacturers at one point or another, so Ducati kicking back because of this seems short-sighted.

The brand also argues that Jorge Martin will be a direct rival on the RS-GP when he returns to action, and therefore time on a MotoGP bike before his racing comeback could be seen as handing him an advantage given Aprilia wants to hold the test in Qatar ahead of that round.

Approving a test now would leave little time to police it enough to allay fears that Aprilia could use it to try new parts. In theory, MotoGP would only need to add some limits on the numbers of tyres and amount of fuel Aprilia could use, as well as ensure an independent FIM scrutineer was on-site to oversee the test.

From a safety perspective, changing the testing rules to allow long-time injured riders to get back up to speed in a private setting would be a good move. From a commercial point of view, it also limits the possibility of a rider returning at a weekend only to pull out after one session, and therefore shortchanging fans who have purchased tickets specifically to see said competitor.

But there must also be thought given to why this debate is being sparked now and if such a big deal would have been made about this proposal if it didn’t involve the reigning world champion. And if the shoe was on the other foot, would Aprilia be of the same opinion?

Ultimately, this would be a rule change that would benefit the entire grid, But, equally, a sudden change can’t be seen to have been made for the benefit of only one. Given the can of worms this change could open if not regulated properly, giving the championship time to properly integrate it would be better in the long-run.