Fellow MotoGP champions Marc Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia have revealed they've both told the injured Jorge Martin to not try to rush back into action in 2025.
Martin had missed virtually the entirety of the 2025 pre-season testing through injury, but was due to at least start the season - but hurt himself again while trying to work his way back into race fitness.
The new crash, sustained while training in supermoto the day before he was due to fly to Thailand, is already confirmed as not just keeping him out of the Thailand opener this weekend but the second round in Argentina in a fortnight and quite likely more race weekends.
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This is because Martin fractured several bones, including most crucially the left scaphoid in the left wrist. The scaphoid takes a long time to recover due to limited blood supply, and wrist injuries can even be career-enders - as was the case for former MotoGP rider and 2007 World Superbike champion James Toseland.
Aprilia racing boss Massimo Rivola joked Martin "I'm sure is thinking about riding tomorrow" - but has emphasised that Aprilia has told him, and will continue to tell him, to ensure full recovery.
And there is no indication that Martin is planning to rush back - speaking about the injury on social media, he wrote that "there are many races but there's only one hand".
That is a paraphrase of a quote that Marquez had given several years prior during his ongoing ordeal after his arm break in the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez.
An attempt to return to competition as soon as possible after that - to the point of riding in practice for the following weekend's race - set him on a path that included three more arm surgeries of increasing severity, the final one requiring a 30-degree rotation of his arm bone.
"It’s true that I understand the situation a bit, especially because after being world champion your motivation is extra, your confidence is extra," said Marquez.
"Sometimes you don’t even see the limit.
"I texted him this morning, following my feeling and my experience, I just said to him ‘respect your body’. I didn’t respect my body in the past, and I paid a lot.
"I told him ‘if you lose three-four-five-six races, it’s nothing.’ He’s young, has a lot of talent, whole career in front of him.
"We wish him a good comeback, in the end he’s #1, he needs to defend the #1 on the racetrack."
Bagnaia, who also texted his title rival from last year in the aftermath of this injury, wondered whether Martin may have been caught out by cold weather while training.
"To ride in that condition you have to be very careful, and sometimes a heavy crash can happen," Bagnaia said.
"He was really unfortunate, because he will have to wait a lot if he wants to be back fully fit - because the scaphoid is something that can take a lot of time.
"I sent him a huge hug because it’s difficult to say something more in this situation. The only thing that I want to say to him, and I did say to him, is to keep calm, no rush.
"It’s a long recovery and, like Marc said, maybe if he has another incident before he’s fully fit he can put his career more at risk. Sometimes it’s better to wait than have a crash.”
