Strong comeback in Thailand: Martin feels "like before" again

– At the MotoGP season opener in Thailand, Jorge Martin made a clear statement with fifth place in the sprint and fourth in the main race – and faster than expected, after the Aprilia rider had missed most of the 2025 season and the first pre-season test due to injury.

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“Yes, I am super happy to finish this solid weekend,” he summarizes with even more satisfaction. Being able to race at this level again after only two days of testing and even being able to improve his base over the course of the days was impressive. “So I’m really super happy about it.”

Martin emphasizes above all how important his consistency throughout the weekend was. Three times top 5 – in qualifying as well as in both races – was “nice”.

Martin gives himself “nine out of ten” points

Especially at the beginning of the race, he “felt super good” and fought again with Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta. “I felt like I was the same as before again, that’s really good,” the “Martinator” recalls.

However, the 2024 MotoGP World Champion is not entirely satisfied. He knows that he must continue to improve his motorcycle set-up to catch up with teammate Marco Bezzecchi and the others at the top. At the same time, he was optimistic: the gap was not too large.

There wasn’t much missing to Raul Fernandez either, brand colleague in the Trackhouse team. The podium on Sunday was definitely possible. Martin therefore rated his own performance with “maybe nine out of ten” points. “I’m super happy to have finished and to continue making progress.”

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Aprilia rider aims for the fight for victory

It is remarkable how quickly Martin feels close to 100 percent again after his recent surgery. When asked when he expected to be so close to his best form again, he says: “I am much closer than originally expected.”

During the test, twelve rounds were already too much for him. Martin, on the other hand, survived the sprint distance without any problems. The 26 laps in the Grand Prix race were “tricky, but no more than usual. It was more about understanding the bike better with every lap and adapting to it more and more.”

Martin evaluates the insights he was able to gain as positive. He feels exactly where his weak points lie and where he still needs to improve.

He worked “really, really hard” all weekend to identify these small points. In the race, he already managed to take another step forward. At the same time, he remains realistic: there will be tracks where he feels even better and others where he has to struggle more.

Overall, however, the bike works “really, really well” for him. What he is still missing is a stable, own base. “At the moment, I’m always adapting to the style of the bike. As soon as I can attack the way I want, I will take another step and be able to fight for victories.”

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