Michael Laverty thinks Jorge Martin can ‘unlock’ two things Aprilia’s bike lacks after watching Ai Ogura

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Jorge Martin has finally made his race weekend debut for Aprilia at the 2025 Grand Prix of Qatar following an injury-hit start to the campaign for the riders’ champion.

The 27-year-old was forced to miss the first three rounds of the 2025 MotoGP season at the Thailand, Argentina and Americas Grands Prix. But Aprilia finally have their new recruit on an RS-GP25 at a race weekend in Qatar after Martin got an injury at testing and also in training.

Martin’s start to his fresh life for Aprilia hit an early speedbump at the Sepang Test when the Spaniard highsided out of Turn 2. He sustained a fracture on his right hand and also multiple fractures on his left foot. Yet the Spaniard was soon on a Supermoto and he highsided again.

Without the second crash, Martin could have raced in Thailand after undergoing surgery on his hand. But his shunt on a Supermoto saw Martin sustain a complex fracture of the radius, some carpal bones and an ipsilateral calcaneal fracture on his left hand and face a long wait.

Michael Laverty thinks Jorge Maritn can ‘unlock’ the Aprilia RS-GP25’s acceleration and top speed

Martin is still unsure about his rib injury sustained in the highside on a Supermoto, as well, despite returning to action this weekend at the Qatar GP. It is far from the end of the road, which even saw Martin think ‘Maybe I’m never the same as before’ amid his rehabilitation.

Aprilia will hope the Madrid native can rediscover the form that took him to the 2024 title ahead of Francesco Bagnaia. And Michael Laverty is ‘excited’ to see what Martin can offer aboard the Aprilia, having seen Trackhouse rookie Ai Ogura show the RS-GP25’s potential.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Jorge Martin from net worth to girlfriend

Laverty told TNT Sports 2 (11/4, 18:12): “I am excited to see what he can do with the Aprilia package. Watching Ai Ogura in round one, you think there’s something there and I think Jorge Martin is the right man to unlock it.

“He’s loving the front feel. I think his stature will help [with] acceleration [and the bike’s] top speed, which are two areas the Aprilia has lacked a little bit.

“They need to get the corner entry dialled in as good as Ducati and that first touch of the throttle, but the possibilities are there.”

Ai Ogura’s MotoGP debut for Trackhouse showed Jorge Martin the Aprilia RS-GP25’s potential

Martin hardly set the timesheets alight on his MotoGP return at the Qatar GP as he finished practice as the slowest Aprilia rider with the 20th-best lap time. But his best effort was only 0.450 seconds slower than what Ogura achieved with Trackhouse as the best Aprilia in P15.

Aprilia teammate Marco Bezzecchi was also only P19 and 0.218s quicker than Martin during practice at Lusail. It was a solid enough start for the Spaniard as he is still continuing to build fitness and as Martin fears he will get injured again if the Aprilia rider chases wins right now.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Ai Ogura from height to career stats

Laverty is also right to point out the potential that Ogura has shown the RS-GP25 can offer at certain circuits. Ogura had the best MotoGP debut since Marc Marquez back in 2013 with the 2024 Moto2 champion’s fifth-place finish at the Grand Prix of Thailand with Trackhouse.

Ogura also finished the Buriram Sprint in fourth place and secured ninth in both races at the Grand Prix of the Americas. He even finished the Argentina Grand Prix in eighth, but lost the points Ogura gained from 15th on the grid when disqualified for non-homologated software.