Paolo Bonora (Aprilia) on Jorge Martin: “We have to be very cautious”

At the Malaysian Grand Prix, Jorge Martin was forced to retire on Saturday – he simply couldn’t carry on with the fracture in his right wrist. Back home, the Spaniard worked hard to improve his condition. The several days of physiotherapy sessions back home have paid off, as Martin confirmed on Thursday ahead of the race weekend in Qatar. “The fracture is still there, but it feels much better,” said the “Martinator”. However, he added that a further assessment would be necessary after the first free practice session on Friday.

In FP1 on Friday afternoon, Martin was able to complete many laps at the Lusail International Circuit – in sweltering 33-degree Celsius air temperatures. The Aprilia factory rider made a good impression on his RS-GP. What’s more, Martin was quick, finishing the 45-minute session in 5th place. He was over seven-tenths of a second off World Championship rival Marc Marquez (Ducati), who set the fastest time.

During the session, Aprilia team manager Paolo Bonora gave a brief update to colleagues at motogp.com on Jorge Martin’s progress: “The situation seems to be improving, but we have to be very careful,” Bonora cautioned. “He’s doing better with direction changes than he was at the last race weekend, but he’s still struggling in the hard braking zones. Fortunately, there aren’t that many places here where he has to push hard on the brakes.”

Jorge Martin machte im FP1 in Katar einen guten Eindruck

Foto: Gold and Goose Photography

Paolo Bonora: “We’ll never give up!”

Martin needs to score eight points this weekend to at least postpone the title decider until Portimao – provided MM93 wins both races. Is that the aim for this weekend? “Absolutely. As long as the maths gives us a chance, we’ll never give up,” Bonora emphasised. “We want to keep the championship alive. We’ve got our chances, and Jorge has won here before. We’re hoping for a positive weekend. At the same time, we’re keeping our feet on the ground and we’ve got no expectations, because we’re well aware of Jorge’s physical condition.”

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Lusail: International Livestream

MotoGP World Championship

07.11.2026 - 10:25

Jorge Martin will continue to take it session by session – with the aim of preventing Marc Marquez from clinching his tenth world title prematurely in Qatar.