Marco Bezzecchi
Jorge Martin looks to have already secured his next MotoGP move as reports suggest he is off to Yamaha in 2027.
The 2024 champion has been causing a stir in the MotoGP rider market since clinching the title with Pramac. Martin defected to Aprilia in 2025 after losing out on a factory Ducati seat.
Then, after suffering several crashes and serious injuries at the start of the season, Martin tried to break his contract and force a move to Honda. No move materialised and the situation was resolved, but the relationship was certainly fractured.
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Now, the 28-year-old has got his exit, as Martin is set to join Yamaha from next year. With Fabio Quartararo heading to Honda, the Iwata outfit acted fast to find his replacement.
The same could not be said for Aprilia in terms of negotiations. Martin leapt at Yamaha after Aprilia delayed his contract extension, which is set to expire in 2026.
Albert Valera told Carlo Pernat that better pay decided Jorge Martin’s Yamaha move
Being one of the biggest and most successful MotoGP manufacturers, Yamaha have a significantly stronger budget than the likes of Aprilia. Quartararo earns £10 million-a-year from the Iwata outfit, while Martin currently earns £3.5m in Noale.
The financial benefits are certainly an incentive to join Yamaha, and Martin’s manager, Albert Valera, has admitted that this is the exact reason why they are making the move.
Carlo Pernat revealed a conversation he had with Valera via journalist Manuel Pecino’s YouTube channel: “It was already a done deal. I’d spoken to Albert Valera two months ago.
“He’d made it clear to me that they’d already signed [with] Yamaha for several years for the money, so it was already a thing from two months ago, come on.”
READ MORE: Everything to know about Jorge Martin from net worth to girlfriend
Carlo Pernat says Jorge Martin has done the ‘right thing’ joining Yamaha
Assessing the rider market and the rumoured transfers that are happening in 2027, Pernat believes Martin made the right decision to join Yamaha.
The team’s current situation may put doubt on that, however, given that the V4 engine is desperately off the pace of its rivals in 2026. Yamaha’s riders were struggling at the back of the grid in Buriram, and it left Martin doubting his decision for 2027.
Predict the order of the Yamaha riders in the 2026 MotoGP standings
But Pernat insists that it was the right call to leave Aprilia: “Yes, look, that makes sense, especially with today’s bike – it’s not yesterday’s bike, it’s very different.
“Martin will have 23 fractures and is all broken, so signing a three-year contract for the money will get his career back on track and is the right thing to do.”
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