Jorge Martin's huge highside incident on day one of pre-season testing in Sepang is seen as a threat to his 2025 championship prospects by 2003 World Superbike Champion and TNT Sports MotoGP presenter, Neil Hodgson. Martin sustained injuries to his hand and leg, requiring surgery on his hand.
While he is expected to be back on Aprilia's 2025 RS-GP bike in Buriram from the first round, his absence during the pre-season test is being seen as a major disadvantage for him and Aprilia.
The reigning world champion must not only focus on the bike's development but also focus on ensuring he remains in the championship battle - a task that seems uncertain considering his physical condition.
Hodgson explained that the situation would add a lot of pressure on Martin in the upcoming season. He told my:
“I feel slightly robbed with what’s happened with Jorge Martin, crashing so early in the preseason test.
“So, he’s ended up in a situation with zero data, zero experience riding that Aprilia; the only good news is the Aprilia looks good in the hands of Marco Bezzecchi, who’s obviously super-talented as well.”
He added:
“It’s tough because the race weekends go so quick, and before you know it you’ve got to try and get yourself into Q2, you’ve got to get that all-important top-10 [in Practice], so there’s a lot of pressure on that."
While teammate Bezzecchi's feedback to Aprilia on the new RS-GP could be a relieving factor for Martin, especially since their initial feedback about the bike was similar, Hodgson believes Martin's natural ability to set a fast lap on any bike could save him from potential pitfalls in the early races of the 2025 MotoGP season. He said:
“One thing on his side that’s positive is that he’s already very natural at doing a fast lap time – all through his career.
“Some riders aren’t as good when you put a soft tyre in and you’ve got to really focus on that perfect lap, some riders find it difficult, but he’s always been incredible at it.
“But it’s probably going to take a while [to adapt to the Aprilia].
“One of the things that I feel sorry for him ever so slightly is, because he’s missed all the testing, any development of the new bike will have gone in the direction of the feedback of Bezzecchi.
“So, sometimes teammates like a different feel; sometimes they don’t, sometimes they like the bike set very similar, I know some teammates I had where we were polar opposite ends of the scale.
“So, he’s also got that to factor into it; he’s got to hope that, when he jumps on the bike in Buriram, the base setting that Bezzecchi’s got the bike at will work for [him]. If it does, that will help him shortcut the process of getting really comfortable with the bike.”
