Jorge Martin fears he must ‘lose’ one ‘super-strong’ trait to succeed on Aprilia’s MotoGP bike

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Jorge Martin now has five Grand Prix events under his belt as an Aprilia rider, as the reigning MotoGP champion continues to learn the RS-GP25 after his injury-hit term.

The 27-year-old made the switch from Ducati machinery to the RS-GP this season, after four campaigns riding Desmosedicis for Pramac. But fracturing his left hand in pre-season before suffering 11 broken ribs and a hemopneumothorax in the Qatar GP thwarted his adaptation.

Martin has now overcome his fitness problems, but he is still learning how to succeed on an RS-GP ahead of racing for Aprilia in Italy for the first time at the San Marino Grand Prix. The Spaniard goes to Misano this week for round 16 of this year’s 22 with 29 points to his name.

Since Martin’s return from injury just before the summer break, Aprilia have so far seen him finish the Brno Sprint in P11, the Czech GP in P7, the Red Bull Ring Sprint in P10, the Balaton Park Sprint in P9, the Hungarian GP in P4 and the Catalan GP in P10 in the past four rounds.

Jorge Martin admits he must ‘lose’ his braking strength to suit Aprilia’s bike in qualifying

Martin crashed out of the Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring’s fast Turn 7 and, more recently, out of the Catalan Sprint at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya’s Turn 10. VR46 rider Franco Morbidelli and Martin crashed in the Catalan Sprint when the former fell trying to overtake.

But it is in qualifying where Martin believes he needs to make the most progress adapting to the Aprilia RS-GP25. The 20-time premier class polesitter is yet to qualify in the top 10 at any race for the Noale outfit, despite teammate Marco Bezzecchi taking pole for the Austrian GP.

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Martin even thinks his “super-strong” ability under braking on the RS-GP25 is compromising his ability to extract more overall performance from Aprilia’s bike during qualifying sessions. So, the Spaniard admits he needs to “lose” a bit of his braking strength to improve his times.

He said, via Motorsport.com. “I feel I’m very, very strong in braking with Aprilia. Maybe too much. I can overtake riders, but I need a bit of speed [elsewhere]. There’s always a balance, a compromise. Now, I have to lose a bit of braking and gain in other parts.

“For sure, I’m super-strong. I brake really late, but then I lose maybe in another corner. So, I need to understand. Hopefully, I don’t lose braking, but improve in [other areas to] be a bit more competitive.”

Jorge Martin must adapt to the Aprilia RS-GP25 to qualify well at Misano

Martin’s feedback on braking was a big help for Aprilia at Balaton Park, as his insight offered the Noale natives key knowledge they used for the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix. Aprilia team director Paolo Bonora also credited Martin’s braking feedback for his P4 and Bezzecchi’s P3.

But Martin’s disappointing qualifying results continue to give the Aprilia rider a mountain to climb in Sprint Races and Grands Prix to relish stronger results. Pushing the front-end of the RS-GP25 under braking amid a qualifying lap can cost him traction as he applies the throttle.

It will likely prove costly once again this weekend at Misano if Martin cannot adapt his riding style to suit the Aprilia RS-GP25 during qualifying for the San Marino GP. Traction will be key to posting a strong lap time this Saturday, given the stop-start nature of the circuit in Rimini.