Marco Bezzecchi
Jorge Martin made a splash on the Aprilia rider’s comeback from injury at the 2025 Grand Prix of Qatar by qualifying in 14th place for his first race for the Italian team.
The Tuscan outfit took advantage of Ducati snubbing promoting Martin from Pramac to sign Marc Marquez for their factory line-up. But Aprilia have had to wait to have the 27-year-old on an RS-GP25 at a race after Martin broke both of his hands plus his left foot in pre-season.
Martin initially fractured his right hand plus left foot in a highside at the Sepang Test, but he was not due to miss any rounds after undergoing surgery. Yet a second highside while riding a Supermoto in training dealt Martin complex fractures on his left hand and also a long wait.
Neil Hodgson ‘not buying’ Jorge Martin claim he’s only riding at 95% at the Qatar GP
Aprilia were thus forced to tackle the first three rounds of the 2025 MotoGP season without the defending riders’ champion. And while the Spaniard recorded his return at the Qatar GP, Martin is still unsure about his rib injury after having extra issues from his Supermoto crash.
Additionally, Martin fears he will get injured again if the Aprilia rider targets wins so quickly after returning to action. But Neil Hodgson could not believe Martin tell Gavin Emmett that he only rode at 90-95% during practice this Friday, and he expected to see more in qualifying.
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Emmett told TNT Sports 2 (12/04, 13:19): “He said to me, ‘We’re not here for testing. It’s not a test. I’m getting used to it and I was able to give some good feedback.
“‘But I’m riding at 90% actually I think I was riding at 95%. But I have to ride within myself as I don’t want another crash, I don’t want another injury. Maybe on Saturday I’ll have to ride a bit slower when we go racing. Maybe I’m going to take it a bit easier’.”
To which, Hodgson replied: “I’m not buying it. As in, if his wrist feels good, he is the king of one lap. And I know he doesn’t know the bike, but you just feel like it’s going to be hard to control his natural urge.”
Jorge Martin immediately proves Neil Hodgson right for doubting the Aprilia rider’s claims
Hodgson would not have to wait long for Martin to prove the 2003 World Superbikes riders’ champion right for doubting the Aprilia rider’s claims, as well. It took the Madrid native just one lap in qualifying to push the limits and risk crashing in Martin’s pursuit of a stronger lap.
While a Q2 place would ultimately escape Martin, he flew from the get-go in Q1 and set the second-fastest time after the initial runs. Aprilia even saw Martin lap the Lusail International Circuit two-tenths of a second faster than Marco Bezzecchi, who also joined Aprilia this year.
Martin tucked himself in behind Pramac Yamaha star Jack Miller for his first qualifying lap at the Qatar GP and the 2025 season on his Aprilia debut. The Australian’s presence gifted him a rider to chase, and such was Martin’s attack-level that he wheelied out of the final corner.
Bezzecchi and factory Yamaha rider Alex Rins would both improve with their second Q1 runs to put Martin out of the top two. But he was instantly on the attack again and followed Joan Mir. Yet running too close to the Honda rider meant Martin did not improve, unlike Ai Ogura.
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