MotoGP stewards announce Jorge Martin penalty for his Valencia return

Aprilia’s Jorge Martin has been handed his verdict from the FIM MotoGP stewards for the Valencia Grand Prix, following a collision at the Japanese Grand Prix that left him injured.

The 2024 world champion was involved in a first-corner collision with Aprilia team-mate Marco Bezzecchi at the start of the sprint at Motegi last month.

The Spaniard suffered a displaced fracture in his shoulder, which forced him onto the sidelines for the fourth time this year.

The FIM stewards placed the incident under investigation, but could not conclude this until it was able to speak to Jorge Martin.

Ahead of his return to action this weekend at the Valencia Grand Prix, the stewards have determined that he was “found to be riding in an irresponsible manner, causing a crash involving No.72”.

The penalty handed out to Martin is a double long lap penalty, which will be served in the next grand prix in which he participates.

That is currently scheduled to be this weekend’s Valencia Grand Prix, though if he withdraws due to his ongoing shoulder injury suffered in that incident, the penalty will not be deemed served.

Should he miss the race for an unrelated reason, however, the stewards will consider the punishment served.

This was Martin’s first offence of the 2025 season.

It has been a year plagued by injury for the 2024 world champion, who missed all of the pre-season due to injury from a crash on the first day of testing in February.

He then injured himself during a training accident ahead of the opening round of the campaign, leading him to miss the first three events.

When he returned at the Qatar Grand Prix, he crashed again during Sunday’s race and suffered multiple injuries.

This led to a lengthy layoff that wouldn’t see him return until the Czech Grand Prix prior to the summer break.

During that period, he tried to activate an exit clause from his Aprilia contract based on performance.

However, after Aprilia threatened legal action and drawn-out court proceedings, Martin committed to the second year of his deal upon his return at Brno.

This weekend’s Valencia Grand Prix will be Martin’s seventh event of the season.