MotoGP, Jorge Martin: Was it a mistake to sign with Yamaha?

World Championship leader before the summer break and determined to make history with Aprilia before a Yamaha-branded future that doesn’t worry him.

The German Grand Prix wasn’t particularly brilliant for Jorge Martin, sixth in the sprint race and fifth in the main race. Finishing behind the Trackhouse satellite duo Ogura-Fernandez was a bit disappointing, but the factory Aprilia rider still left the Sachsenring with first place in the MotoGP overall standings. He would have signed for that.

Sure, the gap to his pursuers isn’t wide enough for him to relax and just manage: there are still eleven Grands Prix to go and he’ll also need to attack to win a second MotoGP world title. Compared to 2024, when his only rival was Pecco Bagnaia, now he has to contend with more riders.

As we’ve written on other occasions, Martinator has a great opportunity to make history by becoming the first MotoGP world champion on an Aprilia. He already did something historic in 2024 by becoming the first MotoGP champion with a satellite team (Prima Pramac) and he’d love to write another great story.

And, as happened then, he will change colors the following year. If in 2025 he had brought the number 1 to Aprilia, in 2027 he could carry it to Yamaha. His move has already been announced and in the Japanese factory team garage he will find Ogura, his current brand colleague and rival for the world title.

He’ll need to step it up when the championship resumes (Silverstone, August 7–9). Martin has won only at Le Mans, where he did the sprint–race double. He has stood on the podium just once in the last four Grands Prix (third in the Assen race). He knows well that to be crowned world champion again he needs to raise the level, something that on one hand depends on him and on the other on Aprilia’s ability to solve the problems preventing him from unlocking the full potential of the RS-GP26.

If he had known that in Germany he would be leading the MotoGP standings, would he have left Aprilia to sign with Yamaha? The Madrid rider answered like this to AS: “I don’t think my decision would have changed, everything happens for a reason. This year I have a great opportunity with Aprilia, it’s an immense challenge to become the first rider in history to win with Aprilia and I’ll give everything for it. Having the future settled makes me calm, as happened in 2024. I’m focused only on riding.”

Seeing Yamaha’s current situation in MotoGP, some believe he made a mistake by signing with the Iwata manufacturer, but Martin is convinced of his choice: “The decisions I make are the ones I believe are best for me and my family. When I moved up to MotoGP with Ducati, they told me it was a mistake, that I should go to Yamaha. But then I won a world title. And even when I signed with Aprilia they told me it was a mistake, but now I’m fighting for another world title. Now they’re telling me again that I’m making a mistake, but we’ll see in the future. I had more options and I think I’ve made the best decision for my future, I believe in it 100%.”

In 2027 there will be new technical regulations and a new tire supplier (Pirelli), so the competitive order on track could differ from what we see today. The two-time world champion isn’t worried about the future with Yamaha; he prefers to focus on what he needs to do to triumph with Aprilia: “Right now I’m focused on the present and on the opportunity. The future will arrive in 5–6 months, when I’ll get on the bike and start working. Now I don’t want to waste time and energy thinking about whether the bike will be good or not. I have a lot to do at Aprilia and I think we need to be more united than ever to fight for the title.”

The Spaniard’s reasoning is sound; today it’s pointless to think about what will happen with the move to Yamaha. Even if many are skeptical, we shouldn’t forget that the Iwata manufacturer is a huge powerhouse and is investing a lot of money to return to the top in MotoGP. Writing them off before 2027 is premature; every constructor is working on future prototypes and we need to wait until next year to get a more concrete idea.

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