Jorge Martin’s return to normal: “I haven’t forgotten how to ride a MotoGP bike”

Jorge Martin confident after his return to the track: 13th in the Buriram MotoGP test with plenty of room for improvement.

Jorge Martin was back in action at the Chang International Circuit. Declared fit by doctors after his precautionary absence from the official Sepang Test, the 2024 MotoGP World Champion officially made his debut on the new RS-GP26. In Buriram, on the track where in 2023 he stole the show (as a Ducati rider) with a commanding double between the Sprint and the Grand Prix, the current Aprilia Racing rider wrapped up his first outing of the new year with the 13th fastest time of the day.

If last week “Martinator” got back on track with an Aprilia RS 660 Trofeo at the Aspar Circuit, the opening Saturday of testing in Thailand was mainly used to assess his physical condition. “We tried to analyze how my body reacted to the power of a MotoGP bike: it went better than I expected,” admitted Jorge Martin. “My hand feels really good, and so does my shoulder. I’m strong and I feel I can push. I need to adapt to the bike and I’m still struggling a bit over the long runs, but the speed is there. I’m pretty happy I haven’t forgotten how to ride a MotoGP bike.”

While waiting for more reliable indications from the stopwatch, Jorge Martin praised the entire squad. “The 2026 package is already working great: Marco (Bezzecchi) and the team have done an excellent job,” explained JM89, increasingly involved in the development program as he progressively returns to normality. “I want to try some things that Aprilia brought to Malaysia, so I can understand which direction to take on my side too. Tomorrow we might do some time attacks: the single lap was our weak point last season; this year I think it won’t be anymore. I’ve noticed that the new bike helps me a lot under braking, where I struggled in the past. This and other changes to my riding style will help us take a solid step forward.”