Jorge Martin admits it was “really difficult” to make changes aboard his Aprilia after taking part in the MotoGP post-season Valencia test.
The 2024 World Champion has had limited time aboard the RSGP since joining Aprilia, after sustaining a number of injuries throughout the campaign.
Though Martin was still yet to return to full fitness, he participated in the post-season test in Valencia to gain more understanding of his new machinery.
Martin admitted while he made some big steps, the biggest thing he needed to understand was “different things” the Noale factory were changing, like it’s new fairing package.
“To ride more and more with Aprilia is always good,” Martin said via Autosport.
“I get confidence, but for me, sometimes I feel like a rookie with this bike, because it’s difficult for me to understand different things or when we change things like the fairing.
“For me, the biggest step was the chassis, it was really good.
“Straight away we started with it and turning was more natural, it’s more fitting to my style, so this is good. In terms of fairing, it is difficult to understand.
“We still need to do some meetings to understand what to try in Malaysia, because we ended the season with a really good feeling and to improve that is really difficult.”
Jorge Martin: ‘I still have pain’ while riding a MotoGP bike
Although he admitted he had difficulty when changes were made to his RSGP, Martin revealed there had been “some positives”.
The Spanish rider also revealed he was hoping to change the footpegs to help him at the pre-season test in Sepang.
“I tried different tanks, different footpegs, and also some positives from there, but it was a big confusion also for the riding style and we had a really short time to try, so we went back to standard.
“But in Malaysia I will change the footpegs to help me to improve my style with the Aprilia, because still the drive is a big issue for me when I exit from the corners.
“Normally, it’s my strongest point, but I cannot take out the full potential from the Aprilia, so it’s where I want to really focus on.”
Martin also suggested he still felt a lot of discomfort despite being declared fit for the Valencia MotoGP weekend as well as the test.
The 2024 World Champion retired from the Valencian Grand Prix as a precaution, but admitted he still felt a lot of pain while riding and was unable to take risks.
“I just need to recover. To not feel pain is the main thing,” he said.
“When I ride, I still have pain on my back, on my ribs, on my hand, on my collarbone, on the shoulders.
“To ride like this is really difficult. It was much more than what I expected.
“I still feel there are five-six tenths to pick to win, so I just need to understand the bike a bit more, and as soon as I feel 100% with my body, I can ride and take more risks.
“Also mentally, when you ride with this margin to not crash, you cannot take the confidence.”
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