Marco Bezzecchi
Jorge Martin is set to miss at least the opening round of the 2025 MotoGP season in Thailand after suffering a fall which has left him requiring further surgery.
The Aprilia rider missed almost all of pre-season after suffering a dramatic highside just laps into his debut at the Sepang circuit.
It was Martin’s second incident of that morning which left him damaged and requiring surgery to fix himself before the start of the season.
The ‘perfect’ MotoGP rider now requires immediate surgery following a training accident, where a fall has added to his problems.
He now has a further two weeks to prepare for his first outing of the year at the Argentina Grand Prix, but there is no guarantee of that and no indication of when he will return to MotoGP yet.
Aprilia have confirmed that test rider Lorenzo Savadori will take his place alongside Marco Bezzecchi in Buriram this weekend.
Jorge Martin faces a ‘particularly troublesome’ issue after fracturing more of his left hand
Originally, Martin had fractured or broken nearly 10 bones across his right foot and left hand, which left him facing a gruelling recovery mission.
He was given the all-clear by doctors to start training again last week, but the latest setback could be a really damaging one.
David Emmett has mentioned on motomatters.com that he could be facing a longer recovery time for his left hand now.
“The Spaniard has now also fractured his left radius and scaphoid. The scaphoid is a particularly troublesome bone to break, as it takes a very long time to heal, having little blood flow.”
Aprilia staff are privately questioning Martin’s attitude after his crash, where his stubborn approach to testing so early on may have a massive impact on their season.
Regardless of how he bounces back from this, the Italian manufacturer is now fighting an uphill battle in a bid to be the second-fastest behind Ducati this year.
Neil Hodgson feels ‘robbed’ by Jorge Martin’s Sepang testing crash
Originally, Aprilia feared Martin would only return to full fitness in Jerez but that timeline has probably shifted now.
There’s a real chance that he will be unable to reach full capacity before the end of the season. He needs some luck to avoid further complications and taking proper time away will allow him to heal properly.
Watching his rivals compete while he’s meant to be defending his title will be difficult, but Neil Hodgson feels ‘robbed’ by Martin’s Sepang crash too.
READ MORE: Aleix Espargaro sends three-word rallying cry to Jorge Martin after Aprilia recovery update
He has already lost so much track time and his rivals are gaining an advantage on him with every passing lap.
It may already be safe to say that there will be a new champion in 2025 and that the Spaniard now needs to turn his focus to a proper recovery.
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