Aprilia needs correct “alchemy” for Jorge Martin in MotoGP 2026
Aprilia says it is searching for the correct “alchemy” between Jorge Martin and the RS-GP.
An improvement in results for Jorge Martin in 2026 will be down to finding the correct “alchemy” between himself and the Aprilia RS-GP, says Fabiano Sterlacchini.
The first year of the Martin-Aprilia partnership saw the 2024 MotoGP Champion finish only four races from 22 as the Spaniard struggled through injury, injury which substantially delayed and interrupted his adaptation process from the Ducati Desmosedici he’d ridden since 2021 to the RS-GP of Aprilia.
Aprilia Racing Technical Director Fabiano Sterlacchini says that the Noale brand effectively needs to start again in 2026 with Martin, and “create the alchemy” between the Mallorcan and the RS-GP.
It’s a process not only of Aprilia moulding the RS-GP to suit Martin, but also of Martin continuing to try to adapt himself to the bike, which won in the hands of two riders – Marco Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez – in 2025.
“At the end, we have a lot of stop-and-go during the season, so we have to restart in 2026 in a more ‘building approach’, step-by-step,” Sterlacchini said of Aprilia’s first season with Jorge Martin, speaking after the Valencia test on 18 November.
“It’s quite clear that the scenario that we have now is quite different compared to the beginning of 2025: the bike proved that is can be competitive, with also more than one rider.
“So, I believe that with Jorge we have to create the alchemy between his riding style [and the bike], that obviously has to adapt as Marco [Bezzecchi] did, as Raul [Fernandez] did.
“But in the meantime we have to keep working on the bike to try to fix the problem for Jorge that in the moment he cannot address with his riding style.”
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Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
