Reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Martin will miss the rest of the pre-season test at Sepang - what should've been his first multi-day test with Aprilia - as a consequence of his injuries sustained on Wednesday.
Martin suffered a closed fracture of his right hand (fifth metacarpal bone) and several closed fractures on his left foot (third, fourth and fifth metatarsal bones) in a Wednesday morning highside - his second of two highsides in quick succession.
He also hit the ground with his head with considerable force in the impact, but Aprilia says a CT scan and an MRI revealed no further injuries.
But the fractures are unsurprisingly substantial enough to cut his Sepang test short and to require surgery, which Martin will undergo in Europe after spending the night in the Malaysian hospital.
This was @88jorgemartin's awful highside in his first hours with the number 1 plate 💢
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) February 5, 2025
He's at the hospital undergoing tests due to left foot and right hand pain. Updates will follow and in the meantime, we're sending our best wishes to the World Champ 💪#MotoGP pic.twitter.com/2UQtHKOq1w
It means the 27-year-old's title defence begins with just barely double digit laps at Sepang, and that he will be short on experience with the 2025 Aprilia RS-GP coming into the competitive portion of the season.
Martin's early exit from the test being confirmed is a true calamity for Aprilia, because it comes just a few hours after the same was announced for Raul Fernandez - the rider for Aprilia satellite team Trackhouse who is alone in the current Aprilia race rider roster in having substantial knowledge of the predecessor 2024 bike.
It means there will be an extra emphasis on the work Martin's team-mate Marco Bezzecchi can carry out in these three days, while it would also be logical for Aprilia to draft test rider Lorenzo Savadori back into track action - after Savadori had ridden the bike in the three-day shakedown before the test.
The second of the two pre-season tests, at Thailand's Buriram venue, is just around a week away, so Martin's participation there is in massive doubt.
And though the season opener, also at Buriram, is at the end of the month, it would now be nothing short of remarkable if Martin wasn't at least somewhat compromised in his ability to compete at the best possible level there.
"In a way today is a lucky today, watching the crash," said Aprilia racing boss Massimo Rivola in reference to Martin seemingly escaping a head injury.
"We are, let's say, confident to have him for race one.
"We saw Jorge and many others do miracles - so why not wait for him in Thailand [also for the test]? For sure in Thailand [for the test] I think we will bring anyway Sava as a back-up, to do some testing... but it's going to be tough.
"There could be the chance that his [Martin's] first time with the '25 bike is in FP1."
