Marc Marquez sheds light on private Jorge Martin chat, "as mates..."

Marc Marquez has explained his conversations with Jorge Martin while the reigning MotoGP World Champion was out through injury.

Jorge Martin, who joined Aprilia Racing for this season after winning the 2024 title with Pramac Ducati, missed almost all of preseason testing after crashing on the opening day of the Sepang Test in February.

The Spanish rider was then forced to miss the opening three rounds of the season when he crashed and broke bones in his hand and wrist, including his scaphoid, while training ahead of the opening grand prix in Thailand.

A third series of injuries were sustained when Martin returned in Qatar, where he crashed in the race and was hit by Fabio Di Giannantonio.

Martin returns once again to MotoGP this weekend in Brno, and mentioned in his press conference on Thursday at the Czech Grand Prix that he had spoken with Marc Marquez while he was recovering.

Marc Marquez reveals private Jorge Martin chat

Marquez, who missed almost all of the 2020 season due to a broken humerus and who missed several races in 2021 and 2022 for injuries subsequent to that initial arm injury, explained that he tried to use his own experience of serious injuries to encourage Martin in his recovery.

“Jorge [Martin] is an opponent, of course, but, in the end, he’s a rider – a very good rider – and he’s the champion,” Marc Marquez told MotoGP.com.

“So, as ‘mates’ of MotoGP, we like to have everybody out there and I understood the feeling to be there at home with a lot of injuries in his body.

“I just tried to be honest and give the best. But, in those cases, the people around him are the ones that make the difference.”

Martin ended the opening day of practice in Brno fifth-fastest, while Marquez was fastest of all.