Marco Bezzecchi
Aprilia star Jorge Martin is about to make his third comeback from injury in the 2025 MotoGP season at the Valencia Grand Prix but must serve a double long lap penalty.
The 27-year-old has not featured for Aprilia during any of the four rounds since he withdrew from the Japanese Grand Prix. Martin sustained a displaced fracture of the right collarbone during a crash with teammate Marco Bezzecchi in the Sprint Race at Motegi this September.
Martin made an aggressive dive down the inside of the field at the start of the Motegi Sprint in his haste to make up places from 17th place on the grid. But the Spaniard lost control and fell after brushing past Gresini rookie Fermin Aldeguer, which torpedoed him into Bezzecchi.
But as Martin sat out trips to Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia and Portugal, the stewards have only ruled on the incident in Japan ahead of this week’s Valencia GP. Chief MotoGP steward Simon Crafar has chosen to wait until injured riders return before issuing penalties this year.
Jorge Martin’s Valencia Grand Prix penalty is great for Aprilia as it will not hang over him in 2026
Martin has to serve a double long lap penalty in the Valencia GP, having also been passed fit to return from his latest injury for the final round of the 2025 MotoGP season. It was key for him to return at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo to take part in the official 2026 test next Tuesday.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Jorge Martin from net worth to girlfriend
But while the penalty will derail Martin’s hopes for a happy ending to his injury-plagued first season at Aprilia, they should both see him having to serve the penalty in Valencia as a great outcome. If he does not race in Sunday’s Valencia GP, the penalty would carry over to 2026.
It would have been far bleaker for Martin if he had to start the 2026 campaign by serving his penalty for an incident in the Motegi Sprint this September, rather than taking his medicine during the final round of 2025. This weekend’s Valencia GP is also far from Martin’s priority.
Martin’s return from injury in Valencia will not be about the results that he may or may not achieve in Saturday’s Sprint or Sunday’s Grand Prix. His focus will all be on finding a rhythm aboard a MotoGP bike again ahead of testing Aprilia’s 2026 machine in next Tuesday’s test.
Jorge Martin is ‘far from 100 per cent’ fit despite returning from injury in Valencia
Practice for the Valencia GP on Friday will see Martin share a track with his rivals for the first time in 48 days. The Spaniard has also admitted ahead of his return that he is “still far from 100 per cent” fit, as his shoulder injury proved to be more significant than expected at first.
“Even before the penalty, there was no pressure,” Martin said ahead of the Valencia GP, via quotes by The Race. “It’s one of my best tracks, for sure, but not this time. It’s strange to come to a race knowing that you won’t be performing at your 100 per cent.”
He added: “The injury was much worse than what we expected. The first day, I was counting [days], and I said, ‘OK, maybe in Australia, I can be back’. So, two races. Just two races. But then I understood that the injury was much worse than expected, with ligaments, muscles.”
Jorge Martin has endured a year from hell after suffering injury after injury in 2025
Martin has endured a year from hell since he left Pramac to join Aprilia from 2025 on a two-year contract. The 2024 champion has only entered seven rounds and started six of the 21 Grands Prix staged so far this year prior to the 2025 season-finale in Valencia this weekend.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Aprilia from the MotoGP team’s riders to hierarchy
Martin has fought injury after injury since the first day of pre-season testing at Sepang back in February. The 27-year-old suffered fractures to his right hand and left foot after a highside at Sepang, and he also fractured his left hand while training on a Supermoto mere days later.
Those injuries ruled Martin out through the first three rounds of the 2025 MotoGP season in Thailand, Argentina and America. Then, on his debut for Aprilia in the Qatar Grand Prix this April, Martin broke 11 ribs and sustained a hemopneumothorax that sidelined him until July.
Martin eventually returned from injury at the Czech Grand Prix in round 12 of 22, but he has been absent since the Japanese Grand Prix in round 17. Aprilia had a nightmare at Motegi in September after Martin crashed into teammate Bezzecchi on the first lap of the Sprint Race.
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