Marco Bezzecchi
Aprilia still have some work to do to convince Jorge Martin that they are the team he should put his faith in beyond 2026.
As with the majority of MotoGP riders, the reigning champion is out of contract with the Noale-based manufacturer ahead of the new regulations.
He will have a big decision to make, but Aprilia’s recent work might have gone a long way in convincing him what to do.
Martin ascended 12 positions at the Hungarian Grand Prix to finish fourth, earning a new best result for his team and giving them a day to remember.
In fact, Martin’s feedback inspired a result Aprilia ‘didn’t expect’ and his experience may be starting to shine through with every event that passes.
It didn’t take long before Martin had ‘realised’ Aprilia’s big ‘problem’, and they have eight races to rectify it before receiving a fresh start in 2026.
Aprilia showed Jorge Martin a ‘very good sign’ with Balaton Park turnaround
Martin left Balaton Park delighted with Aprilia, now that the team has a regular baseline setup that they can adopt, giving them a strong level of performance at most tracks.
Even though he’s as low as 20th in the riders’ standings, there’s still a chance that the 27-year-old can finish somewhere around the 12th place mark.
In particular, Peter Bom thinks that Aprilia just showed Martin a ‘very good sign’ that they are in a good position, after an impressive turnaround from Friday practice in Hungary.
“Aprilia have impressed me the most, KTM also actually, but Aprilia maybe the most, because they were nowhere on Friday,” he said. “It wasn’t even in Q1, not Jorge Martin, but also Marco Bezzecchi.
“And again, the second week in a row, that Aprilia turned things around from Friday to Saturday, which is always a very good sign for me from a manufacturer to do. You come to a whole new track or a different situation, you struggle, and next day, bam, like that.”
READ MORE: Jorge Martin shares what new factor put him at his ‘limit’ for Aprilia at the Austrian Grand Prix
How Jorge Martin has copied one Marc Marquez tactic with Aprilia in 2025
The last eight races of 2025 are about Martin learning as much as he can to take into next season, before attempting to dethrone Marc Marquez.
Nobody has been close to the Spaniard this year, but that hasn’t been helped by a poor year for his teammate and Martin missing half of the campaign.
Martin has copied a Marquez tactic with Aprilia in a bid to boost his fitness and work harder than his rivals from a physical standpoint.
It has already shown signs of paying dividends at what is a demanding track for riders in Hungary, and will only help more in the future as MotoGP heads to hotter climates such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
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