Martin's recovery slow, will miss planned return at COTA Americas GP

The world champion’s return to action after injuries sustained in two separate pre-season incidents, will now be in Qatar next month at the earliest

Reigning MotoGP world champion Jorge Martin has confirmed he will not make his hoped-for return to action at the Americas Grand Prix later this month.

Martin broke his left hand in a training accident in February, forcing him to miss the opening race in Thailand and this weekend’s Argentina GP.

There had been some hope that he would begin his new career with the factory Aprilia team in Texas in two weeks, but Martin confirmed on Thursday that this would not be possible.

“I’m really struggling to recover as quickly as I would like,” he said via a video link to the pre-event press conference in Argentina. “I won’t be racing at Austin.”

Martin was also unwilling to commit to the following round in Qatar, which takes place on 11-13 April.

“I don’t know if I can be in Qatar,” he added. “It’s really early to say that.”

Martin also mentioned requiring some saddle time on the Aprilia RS-GP25 as a consideration before any comeback.

Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing

Photo by: Aprilia Racing

The Spaniard, who has moved from the Pramac Ducati team with which he won the world title in 2024, missed a large chunk of official pre-season testing after fracturing his right hand and left foot on the first day of the Sepang test early last month.

“I would like to do some kind of test before coming back to racing because I’m not feeling all that good,” said Martin.

“I know Massimo [Rivola, Aprilia CEO] is working on that, so let’s see if it’s possible.”

Asked if he had felt encouraged by Aprilia’s display at the opening GP, the highlight of which was a fifth place for class rookie Ai Ogura, Martin replied: “I’m cheering for Aprilia – hopefully they can improve a little more and be close to that podium.”

Martin’s team-mate Marco Bezzecchi added to the Aprilia haul in Thailand by finishing the GP in sixth place. The Noale manufacturer was clearly best of the non-Ducatis in race conditions on the opening weekend.

However, missing at least the first three rounds means Martin’s hopes of an unlikely title defence are effectively gone – no matter how competitive the Aprilia turns out to be.