What Aprilia insiders are now saying about their chances of keeping Jorge Martin for 2026

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Jorge Martin will soon be back on a MotoGP bike. It will be his first time on the Aprilia since his disastrous Qatar Grand Prix comeback in April.

Aprilia successfully secured a rule change that will allow Martin to test before he returns. That way, he can be sure whether or not he’s ready for the rigours of a Grand Prix weekend.

In Qatar, the reigning world champion lapped at a competitive pace but fell during the GP. With Fabio di Giannantonio arriving on the scene, he was left with 11 broken ribs and a punctured lung.

Martin has been training again for around a month now. And he’s hoping to return at the German GP just before the summer break, which means this weekend’s Dutch TT could be his final absence of 2025.

Aprilia are increasingly ‘confident’ about addressing Jorge Martin crisis

As MotoGP commentator Matthew Birt noted on the Pit Talk podcast, though, Martin won’t face questions about his health when he does return. Instead, all the talk will be about his future.

Martin did make a public appearance at Aprilia’s All-Stars event at Misano earlier in June. But he hasn’t been available in the paddock for comment since that Lusail weekend.

During his most recent layoff, Martin announced that he’d activated a release clause in his Aprilia contract. Because he’s bottom of the championship, his camp believe the sporting benchmark has not been met.

Aprilia see Martin’s clause as invalid given that he’s only started one race. And according to Birt, there is growing confidence at Massimo Rivola’s team that they can keep their superstar signing.

“The more people you talk to at Aprilia, the more confident they are at smoothing the choppy waters,” he said. “There’s only two people on planet Earth who know what’s going on, and that’s Jorge Martin and his manager.

“There was a few vibes around this week that Jorge may be looking at coming back at the Sachsenring in Germany. And we know when he does, he’s going to be absolutely bombarded with questions – not about the injuries or the comeback, but is he going to be on an Aprilia or a Honda next year?”

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Aprilia are ready to use delay tactics to keep Martin for 2026, the final year of his initial contract. Honda won’t be able to wait indefinitely, after all.

With both sides interpreting the release clause differently, there’s a clear possibility that the dispute ends in the courtroom. At that stage, it would be hard to envisage Martin wearing Aprilia colours again regardless.

Rivola’s best bet is the 27-year-old having second thoughts about Honda. The brand looked in great shape when LCR’s Johann Zarco won the French GP and then finished runner-up at Silverstone.

But with Luca Marini injured, their three remaining bikes have scored just 14 points in the last four events. Honda’s ‘horrible’ Mugello weekend exposed fundamental problems with their motorcycle, so Martin can’t guarantee success with the Japanese manufacturer despite their superior resources.