Aprilia MotoGP rider Jorge Martin feels the 2026 title is "already lost" following his withdrawal from the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend - but intends to ride in Qatar next week.
๐ The Core Development
Martin sustained a distal radius fracture in a crash during the Phillip Island sprint, but was back to riding just six days later at Sepang, in a desperate bid to keep himself in the championship picture and minimise the damage versus points leader Marc Marquez.
But Martin was forced to give up on his weekend after three sessions, withdrawing after Saturday morning practice.
๐ Background & Sector Context
"I tried, I tried my best, I tried to ride, but for sure the process of healing is still early," he explained afterwards.
"The healing is going really fast, but not enough to be efficient on the bike. I felt that I could ride with almost no pain, but for maybe one lap. After that I started to have a lot of pain, I couldn't be constant, so watching a bit the laptimes and my performance, we decided to stop, to try to wait.
๐ Industry & Real-World Impact
"We thought together with the team that the effort I was doing was too much to continue and yeah, nothing to gain. It was just going to be very difficult even to score one point."
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๐ฎ Strategic Outlook & What Lies Ahead
Martin said he just didn't have the requisite strength under braking - and made reference to his past efforts to shortcut recovery periods, particularly in an injury-laden 2025 and specifically in his return to racing in Qatar last year, in which he ran out of energy in the race, crashed and suffered a bad injury after being hit by a rival bike.
"It wasn't the best idea to continue," he said of this weekend, "because if I continue, it [shows] that I haven't learned anything from the past.
