Optimist Jorge Martin: Anything is possible at Silverstone with the Aprilia

In 2026, Jorge Martin is putting in a performance good enough to head into the second half of the MotoGP season as the frontrunner. Buoyed by numerous finishes in the points, the Aprilia is a symbol of consistency. In the run-up to the two races on the British Isles, however, the Madrid-born rider was well aware that it would take more than that to play a part in the title race.

Together with his technical crew, Martin had undertaken a detailed analysis of the first half of the season before travelling to Silverstone – in the hope that, with a solid foundation and greater confidence, he could switch back into attack mode.

After finishing 8th in the morning session and 4th in the crucial qualifying session, the World Championship leader gave an interim update and sounded very relieved. “We tried to build on our findings and start at a high level. It wasn’t certain it would work out, as I hadn’t had any experience with the bike in England yet. But overall, we know the bike is really good here.”

Tabellenführer Jorge Martin: «Das Gefühl war sofort da»

Foto: Gold and Goose

Jorge Martin continued: “The result was what we’d hoped for. I felt very good and strong straight away and had confidence in the front end of the bike. I’m very sensitive in that regard – when it feels right, I know it straight away and then I can put it into practice. The bike’s balance was spot on from Lap 1. It’s important to me to feel that I can still make steering inputs whilst braking – and that worked just as well as the exit from the corners.”

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MotoGP World Championship

08.08.2026 - 10:35

Behind Bezzecchi, but ahead of Ogura

And yet it wasn’t quite enough to reach the top on Friday. In both sessions, the ‘Martinator’ was half a second off Marco Bezzecchi’s pace, but in qualifying he left all the Ducati riders behind him, with the exception of Fabio Di Giannantonio, who was a good tenth of a second faster. Consequently, the works rider for the Noale-based project sees the strongest competition as coming from within the team.

“Basically, as things stand, anything is possible with this package, but I’m not alone in that. The other Aprilia riders will also continue to be very strong here. I don’t yet know what they’re doing differently, but we have a lot of data and will certainly be looking into that.” Within the Aprilia camp, only Ai Ogura was marginally slower. Yet for Martin, the step forward carried more weight than the raw figures: “It’s also about the mental effect. It helps to feel that you’re on the right track.”

Jorge Martin seems confident he can withstand the pressure on the island. He’ll need to, too. With four rivals, all of whom could leave Silverstone as championship leaders, there’s no breathing space for the current leader of the premier class. His closest rival is his team-mate Ai Ogura.