Aprilia enjoys a rediscovered Martinator
Two spearheads against one for the assault on the throne: for 2025, Aprilia had bet everything on Jorge Martin, but the then-reigning world champion suffered a series of injuries that immediately sidelined him from the possibility of defending the world title he had just won with the Ducati Pramac team.
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In addition to the physical problems and the forced absence that deprived Aprilia of what was supposed to be its lead rider, a dispute then began regarding Martin’s desire to immediately leave the Noale-based manufacturer to accept a lucrative offer from Honda HRC, a tug-of-war that was eventually resolved with the intervention of Carmelo Ezpeleta, who essentially threatened Martin and Honda that he would not consider the 2026 championship entry valid without Aprilia’s approval.
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An outcome that nonetheless smiles upon Martin when thinking about the present, because the Spaniard has a highly competitive RS-GP in his hands, with which he has already achieved two second places in Brazil and the United States, also winning the Sprint in Texas. Martin’s current performance justifies the investment made by Aprilia, for whom the Spaniard is a ‘luxury’ that allows the Noale manufacturer to challenge the Marc Marquez-Ducati duo with two spearheads: “For us, Jorge is a sort of winning bet, in the sense that despite all the problems there have been, we have always believed in him – emphasized Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola interviewed by Sky Sport – today’s carefree Martin is the result of Aprilia’s attitude, which did not abandon him in his moment of suffering but, on the contrary, supported him in his moment of crisis, ‘saving’ him from rash decisions.”
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