Jorge Martin set for surgery, new Ducati fairing 'great step'

MotoGP rookie of the year Jorge Martin's winter schedule will include undergoing surgery to remove plates inserted to fix the fractures sustained at Portimao this season.

Fresh from a stunning pole and podium at the Doha round, Martin's huge practice fall left the Pramac Ducati rider needing surgery for fractures to the metacarpal of his right thumb, right malleolus (ankle) and left tibial plateau (knee).

Although he went on to claim three more poles and podiums, including victory Austria, the plates have been causing Martin some discomfort.

"I will have surgery on the 14th December and will remove all the plates," Martin explained. "I think it is important because I struggle and have pain. But [otherwise] I’ve been feeling good and will be ready for next year."

As well as the aftermath of the Portimao accident, Martin had been troubled by some left 'leg pump' pain related to the muscle.

Surgery to address that issue had also been a possibility, but fortunately for the Spaniard the 'needle therapy' recommended by Jack Miller after a similar gear -shifting problem has worked.

"Just the plates need to be removed. No pain in the muscles, like I had in the second half of the year. The leg is perfect, we have been making therapy with needles," Martin confirmed.

Martin was speaking at the end of the Jerez test, where he finished 18th on the overall timesheets.

Although the least experienced of the four GP22 riders, the #89 was happy to be included in Ducati's development work for next season and especially pleased that his opinion is being listened to closely.

"The test was super good. I tried many different parts over these two days. We didn't look at the lap times, just to understand if it's better or not and for sure everything was a bit better," Martin said.

"Ducati have been giving me a lot of new parts. For sure not like the factory team where each rider has all the parts, we have to share between Zarco and me, but it is already important to try new parts because for sure our voice is important.

"Gigi is always coming to the box to understand which parts are better. I’m so happy with the test because everything we tried is better, just one map that I didn’t like but the other riders did.

"So, it is important for my side because I said I don’t like [the mapping] and they can changed it a little bit. I'm happy to be supported like this by Ducati."

New Ducati fairing, on the bike of Jack Miller, at the Jerez test.

'With the fairing we did a great step'

While the other factory-supported Ducati riders gave little away about specific areas of improvement, Martin was in no doubt where he believed the biggest step had been made; the new fairing, which includes revised sidepods.

"I think with the fairing we did a great step," he said. "We can turn faster and the corner speed is better also. So it will be a big improvement for the future and for our weak points, that is normally entering the corners, it will be much better.

"I feel that everything is easier with this fairing. We can enter into the corner much faster and turn in less metres. It’s really positive. It will be the base for the next test for sure. [On day 2] I did not have the fairing and I was struggling a lot."

Worryingly for Ducati rivals, Martin feels a further 'big improvement' will be made just by combining the new fairing with the engine, something he is yet to do.

"[On day 1] I tried the fairing, [on day 2] I tried the new bike [engine]. The feeling is much better. Now I would like to try both together [new fairing on new bike] because I think it will be a big improvement," he said.

"But anyway, everything is positive, I feel like we improved. This is so important and I'm happy about the final results of the test."

Ducati's class-leading rear ride-height device is also working well with the new package, in both acceleration and braking, Martin adding: "Now I can see all the factories are using it, so we have to invent something new!"

Factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia was fastest at the test with Martin's team-mate Johann Zarco in fourth place.

The opening test of 2022 takes place at Sepang in early February.