Championship leader Martin (Aprilia): “New personal best at Phillip Island”

On Friday morning, Jorge Martin took to the legendary natural circuit at Phillip Island on an Aprilia for the first time. There was no sign of any teething problems. The MotoGP championship leader finished FP1 in first place, ahead of Ai Ogura and the lap record holder, Yamaha ace Fabio Quartararo.

In the afternoon, he moved even further up the order; unlike Bezzecchi, who had a pit lane incident, Martin remained completely unscathed and was able to complete the long 60-minute session without a single hiccup. Martin, who likes to switch to soft tyres early on, soon found himself at the front of the field, only to be pushed back before establishing himself in fifth place during the second stint. Remarkably, this meant the Aprilia works rider was the slowest rider on the RS-GP.

This did not escape Martin’s notice, though he was nevertheless visibly satisfied after the opening session of the Australian Grand Prix: “It was a good day – things went brilliantly for Aprilia – but it was good for me too. For one thing, I was faster than ever before at Phillip Island – a new record, which is a good feeling to start with. And we’ve also identified where and how I can improve.”

Jorge Martin zog auf Phillip Island sicher ins Q2

Foto: Gold and Goose

Martin continued: “Riding style makes a huge difference here, and I need to adapt even better. I usually go into the corners too aggressively and too fast, open the throttle too late, and then end up losing more time afterwards. I’ll keep working on that. I’m very optimistic about it, because we’re already very close.”

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Phillip Island: International Stream

MotoGP World Championship

23.10.2026 - 23:35

In figures: after Day 1, Martin finished in 5th place, exactly 0.255 s behind his team-mate’s fastest time and 0.129 s behind Ai Ogura (Trackhouse), who finished ahead of him. Even more relevant for the championship leader is likely to be the gap to rider number 93. Marc Márquez, in third place, was also 0.129 seconds ahead of Jorge Martín.