Jorge Martin still needed to tweak his Aprilia bike moments before race start

Reigning MotoGP world champion Jorge Martin says his adaptation to the Aprilia is still ongoing to the point he was adjusting his handlebars on the grid for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard has completed four race weekends in 2025 now in an injury-hit year, with the Hungarian Grand Prix proving to be his most competitive.

Through struggling to 17th in qualifying (which became 16th due to grid penalties for others) Jorge Martin was ninth in the sprint and a season-best fourth in Sunday’s 26-lap grand prix.

It marked the most significant step forward Martin has taken this year on the RS-GP, with the world champion getting “more and more comfortable” with every lap.

“I feel good,” he beamed.

“I feel fantastic. I’m still feeling like I learn every time on this bike.

“Every lap I feel more and more comfortable. Even on the starting grid I was still changing the handlebars!

“So, I’m still in that process. Anyway, starting 16th wasn’t easy to overtake a lot of riders during the race.

“And I felt really constant, even my fastest lap was lap 18, I think.

“So, at some point I was seeing Marco [Bezzecchi] getting closer and I tried.

“But it was too risky, so I thought it was better to finish fourth than on the ground. More laps, more experience, and we keep going.”

Jorge Martin 16th to fourth in Hungarian MotoGP

Martin added: “I don’t really look into positions for the moment.

“For sure, it was a nice race, I learned a lot. I need to still understand this bike in terms of qualifying.

“Also in the race I need to improve. But we are doing the right steps, so let’s keep going like this.”

Balaton Park proved tricky to overtake on for most, but Martin was convinced all weekend he would have plenty of opportunities.

“I was really optimistic during all the weekend,” he said.

“I saw a lot of different places to overtake.

“Today, first corner, I overtook seven riders. And then every lap I was overtaking a lot of them.

“I think corner four, corner five and corner nine are good spots. So, I use them all the time to make some moves.

“It was a fantastic race, I enjoyed it. It was a bit long because it was a physical track, but I feel good.”