Jorge Martin and Aprilia closer than ever: the evolution of their relationship after the tensions of 2025

Not only injuries defined Martin’s 2025, as he had even considered breaking with Aprilia to move to Honda: today things are (almost) completely different.

Jorge Martin’s physical condition and his feeling with the RS-GP26 are steadily improving, and everything suggests he can fight for the 2026 MotoGP world title. Aprilia has done a great job; race results and the overall standings speak for themselves. The Spaniard is 4 points behind his teammate Marco Bezzecchi, who certainly has a bit more pressure after what he did in 2025 and what he has shown at the start of the new season.

The Noale team is enjoying the moment, but at the same time knows it cannot let its guard down. Ducati is working to get back to winning, and a phenomenon like Marc Marquez can never be underestimated, especially with so many grands prix on the calendar still to be raced.

Despite an excellent start to the 2026 championship, the two-time world champion doesn’t want to raise expectations too much ahead of the next GP at Jerez, where Aprilia has only one podium to its name (Aleix Espargaro third in 2022): "It will be a difficult track for us," he told Marca, "and I’m going there with low expectations, because it’s not one of my favorite tracks. My goal is to fight for a top-five finish. If we could battle for a podium spot, that would be fantastic."

Martin doesn’t intend to think about a possible MotoGP world title yet; it’s too early to start reasoning about that, better to keep a low profile and move step by step: "Right now it’s just a dream. It’s clear we’re all here to win, I won’t lie to you: I’m here because I want to win. But considering where I’ve come from and everything I’ve been through, thinking about the championship is a bit premature. We’ll see if we have a chance when there are two or three races left; if so, we’ll give it everything we’ve got. For now I want to live one day at a time and see where we end up."

Even though his move to Yamaha in 2027 now seems almost done, the Madrid-born rider stressed that his relationship with Aprilia is absolutely positive, and what happened in 2025 has been put behind them: "It’s fantastic, we’re very united. After the surgeries and after they understood what I went through emotionally and physically, I think we’re closer than ever. They would fight to the death for me, and I would do the same for them."

Everyone knows that in 2025 Martin had thought about leaving the Noale team to join Honda, a situation that created quite a bit of tension between the parties. Others might have ended up in court, but in this case they managed to mend the rift and today things are more than calm: "There were a lot of doubts," Jorge explains. "There were times when I wanted to leave, when things weren’t entirely clear. In the end, they understood my position—it’s not easy to break 27 bones and still want to keep racing motorcycles. We talk every week to understand how to progress and improve, and that’s reflected on track."

Massimo Rivola took it very badly when Albert Valera, the rider’s manager, informed him of the decision to leave. It was seen as a betrayal, given that Aprilia had invested so much in him and had tried to support him as best as possible during his injuries. After the initial disappointment and anger, there was a chance to mend relations, and today both sides are working effectively to achieve success. The farewell at the end of 2026 now seems written, but in the meantime the goal is to give everything until the very last race.