Aprilia targets Jorge Martin’s opening four MotoGP races with the team “as a test” in a bid to acclimatise him to his new team.
This target arrives after a torrid start to the reigning MotoGP champion’s new chapter at Aprilia after the Spaniard suffered hand and foot fractures on the first day of pre-season testing.
Martin’s highside at Turn 2 on Day 1 at Sepang resulted in him missing the rest of the test in Kuala Lumpur and the following test in Thailand.
Aprilia expects Martin will take the first four races of the season to adjust properly to the new RS-GP 25, especially as the team has made numerous improvements since the Barcelona test at the back end of 2024.
“We are waiting for Jorge because it is necessary to bring to him, for the first race, the base set up that we found during this winter,” Aprilia team manager Paolo Bonora said to MotoGP.com.
“We hope that during the first race, he will immediately find confidence with the bike.
“At the moment, his medical recovery plan is fully under control. He is finding [each] day a better and better feeling. So we are looking forward to having him with us as soon as possible.”
“To be fully honest with you, we consider the first four races in the overseas as a test for Jorge because he lost the opportunity to test during Sepang and Buriram,” Bonora explained.
“And in MotoGP when you jump from one bike to a new one, you have to find the confidence.
“It will not be easy but we will put all our energy to help him.”
Despite Jorge Martin’s absence, Aprilia ‘did all the job’ in both pre-season tests
Though Martin’s absence was not what the Italian marque had hoped for, Bonora explained that Aprilia had a successful pre-season test anyway.
“After the Sepang injury we had to redefine our plan,” Bonora explained.
“We had many things to test, so at the end, luckily, we did all the job. We finished all our test plan, all our long, long, long test list.
“For sure Marco did a very great job. He defined his base setup, electronic side and chassis side. And having [test rider] Lorenzo Savadori helped us a lot to define all the parts that we can bring to Jorge.
“We have seen that Marco immediately felt the confidence here in Buriram so this gives us more confidence to bring to Jorge a good bike.”
Martin will feature at the season opener in Thailand on the 28th of February, as he will look to defend his MotoGP crown.
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