Aprilia ahead of Qatar: Martin dares to start, Bezzecchi still believes in the title

• Aprilia has confirmed Martin’s trip to Lusail, the medical check on Thursday will decide whether he starts
• Marc Marquez will be world champion in Qatar if he scores 30 points more than Martin and 8 more than Bezzecchi
• Raul Fernandez also wants to give it a go at Trackhouse despite a broken finger

At the start of the season, everything pointed to an Aprilia year. Now the manufacturer from Noale is mainly fighting to avoid losing the title battle of the 2026 MotoGP season as early as Qatar. Marc Marquez leads the championship with 399 points, Jorge Martin follows with 355 and Marco Bezzecchi with 332 points. As early as Sunday, 8 November, the Ducati rider could celebrate his eighth premier class title in Lusail. That would take him past Valentino Rossi and level with Giacomo Agostini. The two Aprilia factory riders head into this weekend with very different prospects.

Will Jorge Martin race at the Qatar Grand Prix?

Jorge Martin is travelling to Qatar and wants to ride. Whether he actually starts depends on the medical check on Thursday and on whether he has enough strength in his right arm to brake.

Aprilia confirmed the trip on Wednesday. Hard braking in particular was the biggest problem in Malaysia. After withdrawing in Sepang, Martin flew back to Spain to continue his treatment there and arrive in Qatar as fit as possible. He already sees the fact that he was able to try at all in Malaysia as a success. He wants to find out step by step how far he can go in Lusail: “Now we’ll see how the body responds, and we’ll start working with the team on Thursday and see how far I can go.”

How serious is Jorge Martin’s injury?

Martin fractured the radius in his right forearm, just above the wrist. The fracture dates back to the sprint at Phillip Island two weeks ago and has not yet healed.

Martin crashed at high speed in Australia while battling Marc Marquez for the win. This ruled him out of Sunday’s main race, which was then cancelled anyway due to rain and fog. Six days later, he was back on the bike in Sepang without surgery, a cast or a splint. In the first free practice session he was almost two seconds off the fastest time. In the afternoon he stopped after three laps, and on Saturday morning his weekend finally ended after eight laps in the second practice session. He withdrew shortly before the first qualifying session.

Martin describes the healing as very fast, but not yet fast enough for a MotoGP bike. In Sepang, by his own account, he was perhaps able to ride one lap almost without pain, after which it came back with full force. Consistently fast laps were impossible. Since then he has been resting the arm and wearing a stabilising plastic splint.

Why has Jorge Martin written off the world title?

For Martin himself, the championship is already lost, even if it is still mathematically possible. With Marquez 44 points ahead of him and himself not fit, he says he hardly thinks about the title anymore.

For him, however, that does not mean giving up. Martin wants to fight until the last race, but no longer primarily for himself. He is already a world champion, says the 28-year-old, referring to his 2024 title. What drives him now above all is his team and the people around him. If Martin fails to score in Qatar, a Grand Prix win and fifth place in the sprint will already be enough for Marquez against him. If Martin does not take part, Bezzecchi’s result alone will decide whether the championship stays open.

Can Marco Bezzecchi still become world champion?

Mathematically yes, realistically it will be very difficult. Bezzecchi is 67 points behind Marquez and knows it himself, but only wants to give up once the maths is against him.

Up to 37 points are available on a race weekend, 12 in the sprint and 25 in the Grand Prix. If Marquez scores at least eight points more than Bezzecchi in Qatar, the Italian is out of contention. After that, only Portimão and Valencia would remain. Bezzecchi describes the situation as very difficult. The Malaysian Grand Prix, where he struggled, came at exactly the wrong time. The answer, he says, is even more work, at home and at the track. He is looking forward to Lusail: the circuit suits him, and after the long race in Sepang he wants to do better this time.

How did Bezzecchi lose his lead?

The turning point came in the summer. Bezzecchi started the season as the favourite with three consecutive Grand Prix wins and at one point led Marquez by 102 points. In just four months, the Spaniard turned that deficit into an almost unassailable lead.

In June, Bezzecchi was taken out by Martin at the Hungarian Grand Prix, followed by a ban for the race in the Czech Republic because he had hit a marshal. The biggest damage, however, was done by his crash at the Sachsenring. Since then he has been troubled by collarbone and knee injuries that still limit him today. After the summer break he won only one more Grand Prix, but regularly stood on the podium.

In Sepang he finished third in the sprint. In the Grand Prix he made a mistake on the final lap, let Enea Bastianini on the Tech3 KTM through and crossed the line in sixth. The 27-year-old admits that something has been missing since his injuries. Especially at the start of a weekend, he lacks the sharpness needed to be fast straight away. Sometimes he finds it quicker, sometimes slower. Because he has fought his way back once before, he believes he can do it again.

What about Raul Fernandez and the other Aprilia riders?

A start is also uncertain at Trackhouse. Raul Fernandez is travelling to Qatar with a broken right index finger and, like Martin, has to pass the medical check on Thursday.

The injury dates back to the sprint in Mandalika and affects him in a critical spot: Fernandez normally operates the front brake lever with his right index finger alone. In the Indonesian Grand Prix he still finished second despite the fracture. In the sprint at Phillip Island he then had to retire after about half distance, and in Sepang his weekend ended after the first free practice session. Intensive treatment and physiotherapy followed in Spain. Lusail is a special race for him because it is held at night under floodlights. By his own account, however, he has never scored points there in MotoGP. Aprilia has not yet said whether it has Lorenzo Savadori on standby as a replacement should Martin or Fernandez be unable to ride.

If both are ruled out, Aprilia would be significantly weakened in Qatar. The field is already small, as Yamaha is missing all four of its bikes and regular riders are also absent at Honda and Gresini.

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