“I don’t need you, Doctor”: Jorge Martin's first words after MotoGP return in Qatar
Jorge Martin gets straight down to work in Qatar: ‘I don't need you, Doctor. We need to speak about technical stuff!'”
Reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Martin made his long-awaited return to action during opening practice for the Qatar Grand Prix - his first laps since suffering multiple fractures in February.
All eyes were on the Aprilia garage where MotoGP Doctor Angel Charte waited to assess the Spaniard after his initial run (pictured), most notably the condition of his left wrist.
But Martin made his priorities clear.
“I was nervous, as I think everybody was, including [Martin],” Aprilia team principal Massimo Rivola told Dorna’s pit lane reporter Jack Appleyard during the session.
“But it was good to see a ‘ready rider’.
“Obviously, the first [discussion when he returned] was with Doctor Angel Charte: ‘How do you feel? Everything is alright?’
“Jorge has some pain, but the first thing he said was, ‘I don't need you, Doctor. We need to speak about technical stuff!'"
During the session, Martin was filmed telling Aprilia crew chief Daniele Romagnoli:
"The front end is scarily good. When I enter the corner, boom! I get in and it goes well.
"The problem on the rear is that it's a bit too high.
"Anyway, I thought it was going to be worse."
Martin completed 14 laps - more than he managed before injury struck on the opening day at the Sepang test - and finished FP1 in 20th, ahead of Raul Fernandez and Somkiat Chantra.
“We are not making any schedule of his performance,” said Rivola. “Just living the moment, day by day and do the maximum every single day.
“We are just super happy to see him here. The track conditions are quite trick and honestly, we don't expect nothing.
“The target that he gave himself was to finish the race and that would be very nice to achieve because if he does that, it means that we can start working properly from the next round.”
Rivola was also asked about Aprilia’s doomed attempt to revise the MotoGP testing rules so that injured riders are allowed a private test before they return.
“It was a good idea. I think in the future we will all find the agreement for that. Maybe it was too early now,” he said.
That change is now expected to be introduced for the 2026 MotoGP season.
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.
