Cycle News In The Paddock
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Black or Red? MotoGP’s Roulette Wheel Spins Again
The Jorge Martin saga provided a grumbling backdrop to the first half of the MotoGP season. Just how will it illuminate the second half?
The story had already begun in 2024, when his dismay at being passed over (again!) by the Ducati factory erupted. The previous year, it had been in favor of Enea Bastianini, who went on to have a ghastly, injury-racked season while the Spaniard fought bitterly against Pecco Bagnaia for the title. And won it. This time the snub was in favor of Marc Marquez, and we’ve all seen how that played out.
For Martin, enough was enough. He promptly signed for Aprilia, hoping, no doubt, that the other Italian marque could pose a credible challenge to Ducati domination. After all, Aprilia was the only other machine to win anything in 2024.
His year started with all the wrong kind of drama—crashes and injuries. The second bout, incurred during a comeback ride at Qatar’s fourth round, was very serious—broken ribs and a collapsed lung among them. He had been struck by the Honda of the unfortunate Joan Mir after falling late in the race. Exactly the sort of crash that accounts for most of today’s mercifully rare racing fatalities.
Small wonder that his confidence in Aprilia collapsed as he lay fearing for his life in intensive care in Doha, and in the long months of recuperation that followed.
The consequence was an overheated drama. He decided to act on a clause in his two-year contract whereby he could cut and run if his early championship position fell short. Since he’d missed all the races, this shortfall was inevitable. But Aprilia took a different view, that his absence rendered the clause invalid.
Martin’s manager made increasingly hostile statements as the season wore on, and Aprilia chief Massimo Rivola was equally insistent. Eventually, there were threats of letting the courts decide, whereupon Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta stepped in, threatening to suspend Martin’s license.
Martin finally returned to Brno, the last round before the summer break, and announced capitulation. He would stay at Aprilia. Partly because he had regained confidence and equilibrium for himself. And partly because, hey presto, updates to the bike (mainly chassis and aero), plus the growing experience of teammate Bezzecchi, had transformed the team’s fortunes.
Bezz was also ex-Ducati, with no Aprilia experience, and took time to find his feet. By round seven in Britain, he was standing tall, winning an admittedly somewhat unusual weather-hit main race. Since then, more podiums followed, both in Saturday sprints and on Sundays, at Assen, the Sachsenring and Brno.
This was backed up by some surprisingly strong early performances by rookie Ai Ogura in the Trackhouse satellite team and, by midseason, also by his more experienced teammate Raul Fernandez, including a fifth at Brno.
So, yes. The Aprilia could pose credible opposition to Ducati.
And while Bezzecchi is a very respectable rider, Jorge Martin is in a higher echelon by virtue of age, experience and championship titles, not only in Moto3 but much more importantly in MotoGP.
All the Spaniard lacks at present is saddle time.
There’s an extra element to this, beyond the obvious.
MotoGP riders are kept away from their racing bikes by regulation, aside from a very limited number of official tests run by Dorna, including just three one-day post-race tests midseason. Concession teams (those without recent success) are excused from this rule. A new exception (dubbed “Martin’s Rule”) came this year, after requests from Aprilia, whereby riders who have missed three or more races or more than 45 days through injury (e.g., Jorge Martin) are allowed a one-day test.
But Jorge is a top talent and shouldn’t need more than a couple of races to get back to his best, or at least very close to it.
Thus, an intriguing prospect for the rest of 2025.
Until now, the year has belonged to Ducati and to Marc Marquez. There’s not much sign of that changing in terms of the championship. He embarks on the final 10 races with a healthy lead of 120 points over his younger brother Alex. An advantage achieved with a remarkable run: Marc has won all but four of the 12 main Sunday races so far and 11 of 12 Saturday Sprints.
Mathematically, 120 points are not enough: there are still 370 to be had. But realistically, barring disaster, Marc is on the march to his sixth MotoGP Championship. And well deserved. A life-affirming comeback from his 2020 injury.
But in terms of individual races, he and his red bike might not have it all their own way. As well as Bezzecchi, there’s a new and potentially formidable force on a black, bewinged Aprilia.
The Martinator is back.
For those craving some variety as well as sustained brilliance, you might just be in luck.CN
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