Marco Bezzecchi
Jorge Martin is ready to make his MotoGP return and debut for Aprilia at the Grand Prix of Qatar.
The Spaniard has been forced to sit out of the opening three rounds of the MotoGP season in a bid to help his pre-season injuries recover properly.
Martin will have been itching to get back on track considering he is the current reigning champion. It would have been painful to see his rivals compete while on the sidelines.
That was happening while he was also desperate to get to work with Aprilia and understand their bike. He has a long road ahead of him to develop their machine to a standard where they can compete for victories.
Martin made a worrying admission about his return less than two weeks ago and revealed that he wouldn’t be riding any sort of motorcycle before he arrives in Qatar.
Away from the track, Martin has had major ‘doubts’ and fears over his ability to rediscover his best form again in the future. He has the pedigree and the talent, he just needs to build his confidence up again.
READ MORE: Why Jorge Martin’s Aprilia appearance at Americas Grand Prix already hasn’t gone to plan
Jorge Martin may struggle to compete in the Qatar Grand Prix amid ‘severe’ turn one braking
The main reason why Martin hasn’t returned sooner than he has is because his body simply wasn’t ready for it. The Grand Prix of the Americas would have been a brutal track to be thrown into as well.
Qatar is better, but there are still going to be some big challenges. Neil Morrison has pointed out that turn one’s heavy braking could be an issue.
“I don’t think he’s under any illusions that it’s going to be easy or that he’s necessarily going to be able to make it until Sunday,” he said. “Definitely the track layout in Qatar is more favourable than somewhere like COTA.
“It’s a clockwise track so it’s not going to be as critical on his left wrist as COTA would be. It’s generally a pretty fast track and flowing track with limited braking, however, there are still some pretty severe heavy braking points like turn one is going to be a real struggle you’d have to imagine.”
If Martin was to back out of racing on Sunday, it may end up being a wise move. Long-term damage is not worth whatever he may achieve during the Grand Prix, which may not be much at his current fitness levels.
READ MORE: Pramac chief is ‘convinced’ Jorge Martin will do one thing on his MotoGP return with Aprilia
Did Ducati make the right decision to sign Marc Marquez over Jorge Martin?
Three races into the season Ducati’s decision to sign six-time champion Marc Marquez over Martin appears to be justified.
Martin may take until the summer break to get back up to speed, by which point it may still not be fair to assess his performance on an Aprilia which isn’t up to the standard of a Ducati.
However, Marquez’s mistake at COTA proved he still has the odd error in him. The more he limits those, the better the decision was.
His fellow countryman was excellent at limiting crashes in 2024 and it was a big reason why he claimed his first title.
If Marquez fails to win a seventh title in 2025, expect to see the narrative regarding who Ducati should have signed shift.
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