After a dramatic contract dispute and near-exit, reigning MotoGP champ Jorge Martin talks about life, death and why he’s sticking with Aprilia
Jorge Martin confirmed his latest bombshell before taking to the track at Brno: the reigning MotoGP world champion will remain at Aprilia in 2026, despite stating the contrary less than two months ago. For a rider who has barely even competed this season, he sure knows how to hog the headlines.
Brno was the scene of Martin’s second comeback from injury in a troubled title defence. It was also where he spoke publicly for the first time since it became known he was keen to exercise a clause within his current contract that would allow him to leave Aprilia a year early in 2026.
Opening up on his reasons behind wanting to leave the Italian factory, the 27-year-old pointed to the impression that Aprilia’s progress was stalling. Preseason tests in Barcelona and especially Malaysia, where he fractured his right hand and left foot, were far from ideal. Then came injuries in Qatar (a punctured lung and 12 rib fractures), where his first comeback was dramatically cut short. Not to mention genuine fears for his life and career in the hours, days and weeks that followed.
“You are never prepared for being close to dying. In life you always have different situations, but sometimes there are situations that you don’t expect them, and then they arrive, and it’s really tough to accept, sometimes. And Qatar was one of them. I was in a really bad situation,” he said before pausing to regain his composure. “I started to have a lot of doubts. Not only about my future, but also about myself, about a lot of different things.
“So, at that moment I had to make a decision on my future, and that decision was either to try the Aprilia in a few more races, or activate this clause that we all know about,” he said, referring to the part of his contract that states he could exercise the right to leave six races into the year. “Both of them Aprilia denied, which I respect, I understand. They fought for their rights, let’s say. And from that point, I had to fight for what I thought was the best for me, which was trying to move on to another project. But then we start this fight. I could continue further in this fight, but I think in life we have to take some decisions, and now the decision is to stay here in Aprilia for one more season.”
Martin remains adamant he’s done nothing wrong. But in jockeying to leave a factory for whom he had not even completed a full race weekend, he tarred his reputation. It also led to him sitting in front of a packed press conference trying to explain his actions.
“I don’t regret anything,” he said, when asked if he’d do anything differently. “I think everything I did during these few months was what I thought was the best for my future and for me.
“I think nobody can understand when you are in the hospital with 12 broken ribs and you cannot sleep for a week, nobody can understand what is running through my mind. So, everything I did was because I thought it was the better thing for my future. And that’s the same that I do now, to decide to stay here.”
Nor has he felt the need to apologise to Aprilia. “No, I didn’t apologise to them, because I feel I don’t need to apologise for anything. I did what I thought was best for my career. And now we’re together, so we will start together, we will speak together. And if they feel I have to do something to improve the relationship, I will do it. And for me it’s really important to have a family in the paddock. So, I will work hard to make this family so we are ready for what’s coming.”
After Albert Valera, his manager, made public comments at Assen stating his rider was free from his Aprilia contract in 2026 and could negotiate with other factories, the walls began to close in. Aprilia threatened to take its rider to court. Then Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta threatened to revoke his entry to the grid if the situation was not resolved.
To give credit to Martin, he didn’t pretend that staying with Aprilia was his ideal scenario. But the fact he wanted the situation resolved quickly, plus Marco Bezzecchi’s fine form across the past five rounds, eventually convinced him that staying was the way to go.
So why did he change his mind? “It’s a mix of things. The first of all is that before going back to racing, I wanted everything closed. I didn’t want to come here and still be in a fight with Aprilia or with any person, let’s say. So that’s why I wanted to do it quickly, and to stop before coming back, because I couldn’t go on the track with a lot of stuff going out and running through my mind.
“Also, I watched the improvement. My first feeling from what I saw only in the Montmelo test, Malaysia test and Qatar, was always really bad, because I had crashes, I had injuries. So that’s why I doubted a lot. But now I can see, also in the test, also in the All Stars, how Aprilia surrounded me and how they helped me to be in a safe place, and then I changed a bit my mind.”
Now Martin must mend relations within the factory he previously wanted to leave. He admitted there’s tension within his box. “When you arrive in the paddock after all this situation, you can feel a bit the tension. But the most important thing between a rider and the team is to communicate, to speak. If anything is wrong, they have the freedom to speak to me; if I feel anything is wrong, I have the freedom to speak to them.”
Asked if there were any positives to take from the past months, he offered, “The self-confidence. I struggled a bit when I was in the hospital in Qatar. But I think I trained perfectly, I am more prepared than ever, and I think as I said, the courage that I had, I didn’t know how much courage I have. Now I know that it’s inside of me and I will have it for all my career.”
