Jorge Martin: “Big dominance from Ducati, big step from Aprilia”
Despite Ducati’s dominance, Jorge Martin feels Aprilia has made a big step ahead of his RS-GP race weekend debut in Qatar.
Reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Martin admits there are “a few nerves” ahead of his Aprilia race weekend debut in Qatar.
Martin, who claimed last year’s title with Pramac Ducati, has been sidelined since the opening hours of pre-season testing after suffering hand and foot fractures in a highside at Sepang.
His woes were then compounded by a Supermoto training crash that left him with “ten fractures”, forcing him out of the opening three rounds of the 2025 season.
“It's been a difficult two months. I've been working a lot to be here today,” said Martin, who passed a MotoGP medical check on Thursday in Lusail.
“I don't know what to expect. I don't feel 100% still. I have good strength but still pain. So let's see what the weekend brings and try to adapt a little bit more to the Aprilia.”
“I will take it session by session, day by day. I don't know if I will be able even to finish the weekend. For me just to do that will be a big success.
“I just need time to recover, get used to the bike and then let's see in 2-3 months, then everything will be on point to again if I can fight with these three riders,” he added, referring to title leaders Alex Marquez, Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia sat alongside him.
“Big dominance from Ducati, big step from Aprilia”
Ducati, the manufacturer Martin raced for since his 2021 MotoGP debut, has not only won every race so far this season, but swept every podium.
Without their new star rider, Aprilia has managed a best finish of fourth (Sprint) and fifth (Grand Prix) - with impressive rookie Ai Ogura - and sits third in the constructors’ standings behind Ducati and Honda.
“I've been watching closely,” Martin said. “For sure, a big dominance from Ducati, as we expected.
“But I was really looking into Aprilia and I feel that the step that they did from last season is big. They are closer to Ducati. I just need time to get used to the bike, but I feel the potential is high and we can close that gap I think.”
Martin’s starting point will be the bike set-up of team-mate Marco Bezzecchi, who has a best race finish of sixth so far this season.
“Now it’s a really different bike to what I tried in testing at Montmelo or Sepang,” Martin said. “They’ve developed quite a lot of stuff. So for me it's a new bike.
“I will start with Marco's base setup, let's say. But even Marco is changing a bit [his set-up] because he's also adapting to the bike. So we will start like this and then we will make my way.”
The night race format means that Martin, who won last year’s Qatar Sprint for Pramac Ducati then was third in the grand prix, will take to the track with the #1 plate on his RS-GP at 3:45pm local time on Friday.
The second session will then be held under the floodlights, at 8-9pm, when the top ten riders for direct Qualifying 2 access will be decided.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
