Marco Bezzecchi
Jorge Martin endured a miserable MotoGP title defence in 2025, as injury after injury derailed his maiden campaign as an Aprilia rider after switching to the Italian factory.
The 27-year-old made history in 2024 as the first rider to win a title in the MotoGP era for an independent team. But Martin had already agreed to leave Pramac and move to Aprilia on a two-year contract before he beat Francesco Bagnaia of Ducati to the 2024 title by 10 points.
Martin could not defend his maiden MotoGP title in 2025, as the Spaniard entered just eight of the 22 rounds after sustaining an endless run of injuries. He even started just seven of the eight Grands Prix he entered, and the Madrid native finished the year with a mere 34 points.
Instead, Aprilia relied on their other recruit for the 2025 MotoGP season in Marco Bezzecchi to guide the development of the RS-GP. The 27-year-old also left the satellite Ducati fold to join Aprilia in 2025, after spending the first three seasons of his MotoGP career with VR46.
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Jorge Martin can see he was ‘less effective’ than Marco Bezzecchi under braking in Aprilia’s data
Martin admits he “didn’t like” seeing Bezzecchi win for Aprilia amid his injury problems, plus trying to break his contract for 2026. The Italian won the Grands Prix in Britain, Portugal and Valencia, along with the Sprint Races staged at Misano, in Indonesia and in Australia in 2025.
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Bezzecchi’s performances on the RS-GP also gave Martin a benchmark to compare himself with, and his braking data especially stood out to the Spaniard. Martin could see in the data that Aprilia gathered throughout the term that Bezzecchi was more effective under braking.
“In the end, you always look to the best factory rider, who until now was Marco,” Martin told MARCA. “Obviously, I’ve compared myself a lot, but braking involves so many things, [such as] set-up, engine braking [and] the angle at which you’re entering the corner.
“There are many factors. With Marco, we can see that I’m more aggressive with the first touch of the brakes. And then, perhaps, I brake less effectively than when I brake straight on, when the bike is more stable and the brakes are more effective.
“Everyone has their own style, and it’s just a matter of time before each of us finds our own way of riding the bike.”
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Martin felt “very strong” braking on Aprilia’s MotoGP bike after registering his first streak of consistent races on the RS-GP25. But, even then, he accepted that the bike would require a different approach to the one he honed riding factory Ducati Desmosedicis while at Pramac.
The Madrid native will have to try to modify his style next season, having only finished four Grands Prix in 2025. Martin finished P7 in Czechia, P4 in Hungary, P10 in Catalunya and P13 at Misano. He crashed in Qatar and Austria, and retired in Valencia due to not being fully fit.
Martin returned from injury in Valencia despite not being fully fit for the final round of 2025, as he wanted to ride in the post-season test with Aprilia’s 2026 bike. The Spaniard missed the previous four rounds after he broke his collarbone on the first lap of the Sprint in Japan.
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