Jorge Martin “still feeling like a rookie” on Aprilia MotoGP bike

Jorge Martin admits “sometimes I still feel like a rookie” on the Aprilia MotoGP bike, as he struggled to understand how some new parts reacted during the Valencia test.

The 2024 world champion completed 52 laps during a productive Valencia MotoGP test on Tuesday, as Aprilia wheeled out a number of updates.

Jorge Martin tried the chassis that his team-mate Marco Bezzecchi has been racing of late, while also evaluating some new aerodynamic concepts from Aprilia.

Ending the day 18th, Martin says he felt like he was riding more “naturally” on the updated chassis, but couldn’t understand some of the new aero parts.

“It was a good day,” he said.

“For sure, for me, to ride more with the Aprilia is always good.

“I got to get the confidence, but sometimes I still feel like a rookie with this bike because it’s difficult for me to understand different things, or when we change things like the fairing.

“So, for me, the biggest step was the chassis.

“This was really good. Straight away we started with it and I felt turning was more natural, and fit more to my style.

“The fairing, it was difficult to understand.

“We need to have some meetings to understand what to try in Malaysia, because we ended the season with a really good feeling, and to improve that is really difficult.

“So, yeah, to make a big change like the fairing is a really important decision.”

Part of his testing programme on Tuesday included more ergonomic tweaks, some of which proved useful.

“I tried a lot of ergonomics,” he began.

“Different tank, different footpegs. Some positives from that, but it was confusing for the riding style, and there was a really short time to try, so we went back to the standard.

“But in Malaysia, I will already change the footpegs to help me to improve my style with the Aprilia.

“The drive is still a big problem for me, when I exit from the corners, to make metres.

“Normally, it’s my strongest point, but I can’t on the Aprilia. So, it’s where I want to really focus.”

Jorge Martin tested with “no margin to crash” at Valencia

The Valencia Grand Prix marked Martin’s return after a complicated shoulder injury he sustained in a crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.

He admitted over the race weekend that he couldn’t risk another crash, which impacted him mentally during the test too.

“There is a lot of work this winter, in terms of the physical side, because I rode ok, but I’m not feeling 100%,” he explained.

“Also mentally, when you ride with this margin to not crash, I cannot take the confidence.

“I really improved my lap time on the medium tyre from the weekend, so this is a big step.

“I didn’t put on any softs. For sure, with the soft maybe I could have found half a second and been in the top five.

“But the target today was another one and I hope that this winter will help me to close the season and be with a lot of clarity in terms of mentality for next season and be able to push.”