Noale squad draws a firm line in the sand over Jorge Martín contract in official statement
Aprilia Racing has drawn a clear line in the sand in response to mounting speculation over Jorge Martín’s MotoGP future, issuing an official statement overnight that insists the reigning world champion must honour his current contract, which runs through the end of the 2026 season.
Amid rumours that Martín may be seeking an early exit from the Noale-based squad — with increased pressure from rival manufacturers and a difficult 2025 campaign so far — Aprilia has publicly rejected any notion of renegotiation.
“The contract between Aprilia Racing and Jorge Martín is valid and in effect, and as such, it must be respected by both parties until its expiration (end of 2026),” the statement read. “Aprilia Racing has honoured it in full, within the agreed-upon timelines and terms, and will continue to do so in the future. Aprilia Racing denies that any negotiations have taken place between the parties to modify the duration of the contract, which remains as originally agreed upon.”
The Italian manufacturer was also critical of rival teams who may have approached Martín regarding his future, noting, “The team… expects other teams to refrain from making any kind of offer to riders who are under contract. Such behaviour would, in any case, not be legitimate.”
The statement comes during a trying period for Martín, who has struggled through a truly horrific opening to the 2025 season. The Spaniard’s title defence faltered before it ever truly began following a big highside in pre-season Sepang testing, where he fractured a finger and three bones in his left foot. Upon his recovery from surgery, he crashed again while training on his supermoto—this time suffering a complex fracture of the radius, left-side carpal breaks, and a heel fracture. Things went from diabolical to worse when he crashed out on lap 10 after finally regaining enough fitness to rejoin the racing at Qatar. Fabio Di Giannantonio was unable to avoid the falling Aprilia star and ran over him, breaking 11 of Martín’s ribs and causing a collapsed lung that left him requiring hospital stabilisation for a week.
Former world champion and long-time Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaró, who helped guide Martín toward the Aprilia deal after the Ducati factory seat went to Marc Márquez, acknowledged his friend’s current mental battle.
“Mentally he’s struggling because it’s a big injury,” Espargaró said ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, where he is appearing as a wildcard rider for Honda.
“He lost also the confidence, he started to have some doubts about whether he will be fast again or not. He’s not dealing with an easy situation. Jorge is in Aprilia – I’m not saying that it’s my fault or thanks to me, but I pushed a lot Aprilia’s management [and] I pushed a lot Jorge, I tried to convince him as much as possible. He had to decide between two or three different manufacturers, and I pushed him quite a lot to sign for Aprilia.”
“Obviously Jorge is an amazing rider, every team would like to have the world champion. I would love to see Jorge winning races with Aprilia, but I would respect what he decides. The only thing I can say is that I never pushed him to join Honda.”
Two-time premier class world champion Francesco Bagnaia, who fought Martín for the 2023 and 2024 titles, was more straightforward in his view — stating that a rider has a responsibility to uphold their contractual commitment, regardless of circumstances.
“When you have a contract, you need to follow it. You cannot cancel it,” Bagnaia told media on Thursday.
“In my opinion, if you take the words about something and if you sign something, you must respect it. It could be a problem if someone started to make this kind of chaos… I think it’s the correct thing. You do your maximum to try to solve the problem. It’s like a marriage—if you decide to go forward, you must give your maximum to make your life happy.”
While Aprilia has made it clear it won’t be commenting further, the spotlight now turns to Martín and his management team. With Honda widely speculated as a potential future destination, it’s unclear how or when Martín might formally address the growing furore surrounding his contract and mental state. Any official words from his camp may have to wait until the Silverstone paddock activity ramps up later in the weekend.
