After Martin’s crash: Tardozzi questions the 22 MotoGP sprints

• Tardozzi considers 22 MotoGP sprints per season borderline and wants to discuss the calendar after the finale
• Martin will be examined in Sepang on Thursday, former MotoGP doctor Claudio Costa believes a start there is impossible
• Standings before Malaysia: Marquez 365, Martin 355, Bezzecchi 315 points

Jorge Martin’s crash in the sprint at Phillip Island has changed the title fight of the 2026 MotoGP season. The Aprilia rider fractured the radius close to his right wrist on Saturday. Even so, he wants to race again in Malaysia next weekend, just one week after the accident. For Davide Tardozzi, the case is more than bad luck for a rival. The Ducati team manager sees it as an example of how heavily the race calendar now weighs on the riders. And while Martin races against the clock in Kuala Lumpur, a question mark still hangs over the race after next in Qatar.

Why does Tardozzi think 22 sprints in MotoGP are too many?

Tardozzi believes the riders’ health is at risk. Since the sprints were introduced, he has observed more injuries, and riders are more often missing from the starting grid.

The Italian voiced his criticism on Sunday at Phillip Island on Italian television channel Sky. He calculated that a rider contests 44 races this season, 22 sprints on Saturday and 22 Grands Prix on Sunday. On top of that come blocks of three race weekends in a row, such as Australia, Malaysia and Qatar right now. In such a phase, a single injury can decide an entire championship. As an example, he cited Martin’s crash the day before.

He has seen a clear trend especially over the past three years. More races bring more show, but also more stress. On top of that come commitments away from the track, where riders do marketing and spend time with spectators at the circuit. Tardozzi acknowledges that the organisers do a lot to attract crowds and to offer a good TV programme. He still considers 22 sprints borderline. In his view, the calendar should therefore be discussed openly after the end of the season.

How often riders are missing through injury is shown by a figure cited by the Italian website GPOne. According to it, the full field has only lined up on the grid at the Brazilian Grand Prix so far.

Can Jorge Martin race at the Malaysian GP in Sepang?

That will only be decided on Thursday. MotoGP medical director Dr. Angel Charte will then examine the Spaniard at the circuit and either clear him for first free practice on Friday or not.

Even clearance would only be a first step. In such cases, a further examination usually follows after the first session before a rider is cleared for the rest of the weekend.

Martin crashed at Turn 8 in the sprint after an eight-and-a-half-lap duel with Marquez and tumbled several times in the gravel. The track doctors initially suspected two fractures, of the radius and the ulna, the two bones of the forearm. A CT scan at a hospital in Melbourne on Saturday evening then brought some relief. The ulna is intact, and the fracture of the radius is not displaced. This meant Martin did not have to fly to Spain for surgery. He had already been declared unfit for Sunday’s Grand Prix. The race was then cancelled anyway because the rescue helicopter could not fly due to poor visibility.

At Aprilia, hope is high, but so is caution. Paolo Bonora from Aprilia’s team management was cautiously optimistic. Racing manager Massimo Rivola sounded far more sceptical. He called the situation very difficult and, for now, mainly hopes to see Martin with the team in Sepang at all. The shared story of Aprilia and Martin has been rather unfortunate so far, and he wishes for it to end with a fully fit rider. A team spokesperson says they are taking it day by day to see how Martin is doing. They are not putting him under any pressure, because he knows best what is at stake. Whatever he decides, for Aprilia his health comes first.

How is Jorge Martin supposed to get fit for Sepang?

His physiotherapist has drawn up a two-phase plan for the four days until Thursday. The first goal is to reduce the swelling and make the wrist mobile and strong again, after which the bone is to be strengthened in a targeted way.

The plan comes from Aitor Tomas. He works for the agency Playmaker, which represents Pedro Acosta as well as Martin, and looks after both riders at race weekends. Martin flew from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur overnight into Monday. There, a physiotherapist he has worked with before is initially taking care of him according to Tomas’s instructions. Tomas himself follows on Tuesday.

In the first phase, the team relies on cold therapy and manual therapy. Healing of the bone is then to be supported with magnetic field therapy. If Martin is allowed back on the bike, Tomas switches to a different programme than usual. The focus will then be on the wrist, keeping swelling to a minimum and targeted pain management. Whether Martin also receives a painkilling injection depends on how he feels after the first laps on the RS-GP. The injured area will be supported with elastic tape. Kit supplier Alpinestars is also modifying the right glove so that the closure does not press on the wrist.

Until Thursday, Martin’s days consist only of treatment and rest. On Thursday lunchtime he heads to the circuit. Those around him remain cautious, and for good reason: the right wrist has to withstand a particularly heavy load on a MotoGP bike. With the right hand, the rider twists the throttle and pulls the front brake lever. At the same time, it supports his upper body as the weight shifts forward under hard braking and backward under acceleration. In Sepang, tropical heat and high humidity are added to the mix.

Why does Claudio Costa believe a start in Sepang is impossible?

For Costa, the side of the fracture makes the difference. With the right wrist and without surgery, he considers a start one week after the accident impossible, but a start at the race in Qatar one week later possible.

Costa is regarded as one of the defining figures of the motorcycle world championship. The Italian founded the Clinica Mobile in 1976, a mobile clinic for injured riders in the paddock, and remained at the track until his retirement in 2014. In 1992 he saved Mick Doohan from having a leg amputated. Today he is 85 years old.

Had Martin broken his left wrist, he would certainly have raced in Malaysia and stayed fully in the title fight, according to Costa. As an example, he cites Kevin Schwantz, who broke his left wrist in practice at Assen in 1994 and still carried on racing. With the left hand, the rider steers and operates the clutch at the start. Throttle and front brake, however, are on the right. Martin can of course still try it in Sepang, Costa says. He does, however, point out that he has not seen the X-rays himself.

Tardozzi is less categorical. He is pleased to hear that Martin wants to take part in Sepang, as that suggests the injury is not too serious. He does not, however, expect him to win there. According to Tardozzi, how competitive Martin can be in Malaysia and Qatar will be decisive for the outcome of the championship.

Why does Tardozzi defend Marc Marquez in the Qatar dispute?

Tardozzi is annoyed that Marquez is being portrayed as the rider who does not want to go to Qatar. According to him, Marquez merely asked for a safety plan for the race, just like many other riders.

The Qatar Grand Prix was postponed from April to November because of the war in the region. On Thursday at Phillip Island, the premier class riders then met on their own initiative, without the championship organisers. The majority spoke out against travelling to Qatar under the current conditions. Afterwards, the riders demanded security guarantees.

Marquez is the rider with the most charisma in the field, says Tardozzi. Many others hold much tougher opinions than he does outside the meetings, but stay silent in front of the organisers. Marquez, on the other hand, says what many think and therefore takes the criticism. Yet he never said he does not want to race. He wanted to mediate and demanded guarantees that everything is in place in an emergency. If those guarantees are given, Marquez will also race in Qatar, according to Tardozzi.

In the end, however, the Ducati team manager believes the teams decide anyway. The teams hold the contract with the promoter, and the riders are employed by them. The promoter should listen to the riders, but has to make the decision together with the teams.

Will the MotoGP Qatar GP take place as planned?

As things stand, yes, the race is scheduled for 6 to 8 November at Lusail. It is not yet definitely confirmed, however, as Carlos Ezpeleta, MotoGP’s deputy CEO, is due to travel to Doha before the Malaysian GP to obtain security guarantees there.

The situation in the region remains tense. In recent weeks there have been attacks by Houthi rebels on civilian facilities in Saudi Arabia, and many governments now advise their citizens to travel there only when absolutely necessary. The biggest risk for the paddock would be a closure of the airspace during the event. Teams and equipment could then be stranded in Qatar, with consequences for the last two races in Portugal and Valencia as well.

Aprilia intends to follow the promoter’s guidelines. If the promoter declares the conditions safe, the team will race, Rivola said. He currently sees no reason not to travel. He admits, however, that the situation can change from one day to the next.

Who is the favourite in the 2026 MotoGP title fight?

Marquez heads into the last four race weekends with a ten-point lead over Martin and 50 points over Marco Bezzecchi. For Tardozzi, nothing is decided yet: he expects an aggressive Marquez and believes Bezzecchi can win any of the remaining races.

In the Ducati team manager’s view, Aprilia were unlucky with the weather at Phillip Island. On Friday, Bezzecchi had led a strong practice result for the Noale manufacturer, with four Aprilias in the top five. On Saturday, qualifying was then held in the rain, and Marquez took pole position. In the dry sprint, Bezzecchi still climbed from ninth on the grid to fourth. Martin was very fast until his mistake. Tardozzi says he cannot tell whether Marquez would have beaten him in the end. In his view, it would have been a fight to the finish line.

For Tardozzi, the duel shows how Marquez is riding at the moment. He was at the limit, but was thinking at all times and had the situation under control. When Martin passed him, Marquez wanted to strike back immediately because he knew Martin might otherwise pull away on his own after a lap or two. For the remaining races, Tardozzi therefore does not expect a Marquez who merely manages his lead, but one who attacks. Marquez’s best performance is still to come, he says, because he keeps surprising the team. With a second title in a row, the Spaniard would reach ten world titles; so far he has nine, seven of them in the premier class.

Ducati still respects both Aprilia riders. Tardozzi calls Martin a hero who will make life difficult for Ducati. Bezzecchi’s 50-point deficit is nothing, he says. Of the four remaining tracks, Tardozzi reckons three probably suit the Aprilia better, with Ducati likely to be faster on only one. A look at last year’s races: in Sepang in 2025, Francesco Bagnaia and Alex Marquez won for Ducati, while in Qatar Marc Marquez took a double win, although back then earlier in the year. At the end of the season, Bezzecchi won both Grands Prix in Portimao and Valencia, while Alex Marquez won the sprints there. Marc Marquez and Martin were both injured at the end of the 2025 season.

Why was Pedro Acosta not yet ready for Ducati in 2026?

Acosta himself says he would not have ridden well on a Ducati this season. The reason was the frustration he carried with him after the difficult 2025 season at KTM.

While every point counts in the title fight, Acosta is already looking ahead to 2027. He will then ride for the Ducati factory team alongside Marquez. At the start of the weekend at Phillip Island, he was asked whether he was a friend of Marquez in the title fight. His answer: there are no friends, and he is a KTM rider until the end of the season.

Acosta could actually have ridden a Ducati this year. During the difficult 2025 season, he had talked to the VR46 team about a move, but then stayed at KTM for the final year of his contract. Now he explains why that was the right decision in hindsight. The chance at Ducati came when he was ready. Only when he was getting results again, was faster than the other KTM riders and took his first MotoGP win in Austria did he realise that he could take on such a task.

Acosta sees the next two years as the last, or one of the last, opportunities for a young rider to learn from Marquez before he ends his career. First, though, he wants to understand how the team works. After six years at KTM he knows every process there, while at Ducati he knows nothing yet.

Why does Johann Zarco think Diogo Moreira is the right choice for Honda?

Zarco believes a factory team needs two top riders and counts Moreira among them. With one year of MotoGP experience, the Brazilian is the safer choice than a rookie, he says.

At Honda, too, much already revolves around 2027. Moreira, who took Honda’s only official podium so far this season with a sprint podium at Motegi, moves from the LCR team to the factory team. There he will ride alongside Fabio Quartararo, the 2021 world champion and new signing at Honda. Rookie David Alonso, who was also in the frame for the seat, will instead make his premier class debut with LCR.

His teammate Zarco thinks this is right. Quartararo will be the leader in the factory team, and a rookie alongside him would have been possible. With two riders who already know MotoGP, however, better results can be expected. The new regulations with 850 cc engines and Pirelli tyres change little about that, even though riders stepping up from Moto2 should find it easier. Alonso can learn in peace at LCR. There he will team up with Zarco, at 36 the oldest rider in the field. Alonso is 20, so there are 16 years between the two.

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