Aprilia MotoGP team boss Massimo Rivola has admitted the team remains unsure of just how long it will take reigning world champion Jorge Martin to make his debut on its machine, after a fresh injury setback while recovering from the broken bones that he sustained only minutes into the first test of 2025.
Martin crashed twice on day one of Sepang testing earlier this month having completed only a handful of laps and broke bones in his hand and foot - but looked set to be able to make the opening round of the championship this weekend in Thailand before crashing again while riding a supermoto bike on Monday as part of his return to full fitness.
Sustaining considerably more severe fractures in the second fall, including a broken scaphoid (a wrist bone that is notoriously slow to heal) and what his team described as a “complex” series of fractures in the radius of his left wrist, he was forced to go under the knife for the second time in only as many weeks to have screws installed into his hand.
He will now miss the opening round of the year - and Rivola has exclusively told The Race that he believes Martin is also likely to miss round two in Argentina as well.
Rivola was speaking in an exclusive interview for the next video on our MotoGP YouTube channel. You can get early access to the full uncut chat with Massimo in The Race Members’ Club on Patreon now - with 90% off your first month if you sign up now
“I don’t know much more than you guys, honestly,” the veteran team boss admitted. “It’s too fresh.
“I know that he will be back when he is OK. Today, maybe I’m not too optimistic, but I think we need to live day by day.
“If we have to think also about the next race, I don’t even think he can make it to be honest. Now, we have two or three weeks to see how he recovers.”
It means that Martin will now likely start the season at a considerable disadvantage to his rivals as he works to adapt to his new Aprilia after winning the title on a Ducati, given the amount of time on the bike that he’s going to be missing when he eventually makes his first appearance on it.
“Consider that he did one out lap with the 2025 bike,” Rivola explained, “and he crashed in Turn 1, then another out lap and he crashed in Turn 2.
“So his mileage on that bike is zero, and all the others already have an average of 2500 kilometres plus this race. In the first two races, each rider will do 1200km more, so it’s about a 4000km gap with the new bike that he also doesn’t know.
“It’s not going to be easy, so let’s see if there will be the chance to have some mileage somewhere, somehow, differently, before coming in.
“It’s not been an easy start.”
