Jorge Martin shares why he was ‘constantly’ thinking ‘I just want to go home’ at the Valencia test

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Aprilia rider Jorge Martin returned from his third injury lay-off of 2025 for the season-closing Valencia Grand Prix to ensure he could take part in the test on their 2026 bike.

The 2025 MotoGP season was meant to mark the first year of Martin leading Aprilia into the future after replacing Aleix Espargaro at the Italian factory. This term was even meant to see Martin defend the riders’ title after winning the 2024 championship while riding for Pramac.

Yet injury after injury sidelined Martin for 14 of the 22 rounds, and also left Marco Bezzecchi to rally Aprilia around him after also moving to Noale in 2025. Martin ultimately finished the season only 21st in the standings with a mere 34 points from the eight rounds he contested.

Jorge Martin could not wait to ‘go home’ as he feared another injury during the Valencia test

Martin started his Aprilia tenure by fracturing his right hand and left foot during the Sepang test, before fracturing his left hand while training on a Supermoto. On his delayed debut for Aprilia in April’s Qatar Grand Prix, Martin broke 11 ribs and suffered a hemopneumothorax.

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

Aprilia were even once again without Martin after the Madrid native crashed into Bezzecchi at the start of the Motegi Sprint. The 27-year-old sustained a displaced fracture of the right collarbone in Japan, and that injury proved to be more severe than it was initially believed.

So, as Martin was “far from 100 per cent” fit on his return in Valencia, the Spaniard retired from the Grand Prix to avoid possibly suffering another injury with a crash. And those fears stayed with Martin throughout Tuesday’s test in Valencia, as he could not wait to go home.

“Finally. I couldn’t wait for the test to be over,” Martin told DAZN. “I was constantly thinking, ‘Oh no, one more session. I hope something doesn’t happen to me’, and ‘I just want to go home and rest’.”

Martin believes he made the right decision by returning from injury for the Valencia GP and the post-season test, despite not being fully fit. Now, he can focus on finishing his recovery over the winter before heading to the first 2026 pre-season test at Sepang on February 3-5.

He added: “It was the best thing for my career and my progress with Aprilia, and that’s what I’ve done. The good thing is that these two months will allow me to recover completely and not have that worry of ‘if I fall and get injured, it could be serious’.”

Jorge Martin can now focus on his fitness ahead of a potential return to title contention in 2026

It was important that Martin returned from his injury for the Valencia test as Aprilia tried an array of new parts for their 2026 RS-GP bike on Tuesday. Martin tested Aprilia’s new chassis, and he “felt comfortable right away” while using it, before experimenting with new fairings.

Another reason why it was important that he returned at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo was that Martin had to serve a double long lap penalty in the Valencia GP for causing a collision with Bezzecchi during the Motegi Sprint. He did not want the penalty to roll over to next season.

Next year can now offer Martin a fully clean slate at Aprilia, provided that he does not pick up yet another injury during pre-season testing and while training. Martin could even be a title contender again in 2026 after Bezzecchi and Aprilia emerged as Ducati’s main rival in 2025.