Marco Bezzecchi
Aprilia’s Jorge Martin will be “grateful” if he can bounce back from his injury woes and fight for the 2026 riders’ title as he has no “Plan B” to rivalling Ducati’s Marc Marquez.
Marquez dethroned Martin as the reigning MotoGP riders’ champion without any resistance from his fellow Spaniard in 2025, as the latter had a year to forget. Martin only started seven of the eight Grands Prix he entered, having endured three lengthy lay-offs due to his injuries.
Aprilia welcomed Martin to Noale prior to the 2025 MotoGP season after jumping on Ducati overlooking him in favour of signing Marquez, despite the Madrid native going on to win the 2024 title with Pramac. But Martin was left to watch Marco Bezzecchi seize control at Aprilia.
Bezzecchi secured third in the 2025 standings and finished the term by winning the final two races in Portugal and Valencia. Now, Martin has set his sights on joining Bezzecchi in rivalling Ducati’s Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia plus Alex Marquez of Gresini in the 2026 title fight.
Jorge Martin will return to MotoGP for the Buriram test 👀 but is he taking too big a risk?
Jorge Martin refuses to rule out a 2026 MotoGP title challenge if he gets fit and adapts to Aprilia’s bike
Martin enters 2026 with an all-or-nothing mindset on fighting for the title again, as he thinks a championship challenge can be possible as long as he gets fit and then “quickly” adapts to the new version of Aprilia’s bike. Martin missed the Sepang test and has yet to be passed fit.
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Martin required two operations over the winter to sort injuries he sustained last year, as the initial surgeries on his left hand last February and his right collarbone last September did not resolve the issues. Aprilia are likely to get Martin back at the Buriram test on February 21-22.
“I think if I can adapt well and get physically ready quickly, I’ll have a chance,” Martin said, via quotes by AS. “There’s no plan B. I’m going to give it my all to get back in the fight with these guys. [I’ll be] grateful if I can fight with them.”
He added: “I think it will depend on how well I adapt to the new Aprilia. If I manage to adapt quickly and find that confidence in two or three races, anything can happen because the bike is working well.”
Jorge Martin identifies qualifying as the biggest issue he must improve on Aprilia’s bike
Finish the sentence: Aprilia will win ___ Grands Prix in 2026
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Martin will ride a very different version of the RS-GP to the one he rode in the 2025 Valencia post-season test once the 28-year-old, eventually, links up with Aprilia this year. Aprilia have designed an F1-esque rear wing as part of their aggressive aero development plan for 2026.
Madrid native Martin is pleased with the changes that Aprilia have made to their bike in the winter, as the RS-GP seems “a bit easier to ride” based on what he saw Bezzecchi achieve in Sepang. Bezzecchi set the second-fastest overall lap and fifth-best Sprint sim average pace.
But Martin is also well-aware that he still has work to do to adapt to the RS-GP, having so far only contested seven Grands Prix aboard Aprilia’s bike. In particular, Martin views qualifying as the area he must improve the most, having struggled to fix the issues he realised in 2025.
“Last season I had a lot of difficulties in qualifying, but it’s hard to train for that,” Martin said. “Once I know the bike, what it can do, and its limits, I think the lap times will come.
“In terms of pace and riding, I’m not far behind the others. So, it could just be a matter of grid position.”
He added: “I think we’re picking up where we left off, which is a good sign. I don’t want to be too optimistic, but I feel the bike is working very well. It will mainly depend on me adapting. I think the bike is a bit easier to ride than the one I tested in Valencia, so I’m happy.”
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