Jorge Martin: “As soon as I feel ready, nobody can stop me”

After a relentless run of injuries last season, Jorge Martin is confident he will finally race his Aprilia RS-GP at full fitness when the 2026 MotoGP season begins in Thailand.

“It's not easy after the year I've been through and all the struggles. But for me, the important thing is to get ready,” Martin said at Thursday’s Aprilia team launch in Milan.

“I am sure that in Thailand, the first race, I will be 100% fit. During last season it was impossible to say that.

“Then as soon as we are in full shape, together with the bike let's say, we will be able to win races. Absolutely.”

Martin’s 2025 campaign was wrecked by four major accidents, including eleven fractured ribs and lung damage in Qatar, injuries that also took a heavy mental toll.

But he insists the “unstoppable” Martinator seen during his final Pramac Ducati season is waiting to emerge.

“Mentally it's tough. Anytime that you have bad moments in life, you doubt everything,” he admitted.

“So for me, the important thing is to feel prepared. That's why I’ve worked mentally, physically, to feel ready.

“And as soon as I feel ready, I feel nobody can stop me.

“This is how I will approach the season; this is my mentality when I am strong. That's what I'm working on and I hope to reach this.

“I feel like I'm getting closer and closer, so hopefully it will be really soon.”

While team-mate Marco Bezzecchi delivered Aprilia’s best-ever MotoGP season with third in the standings, Martin managed just seven grand prix starts and a best result of fourth.

But results, he insists, are secondary to rediscovering the feeling he needs to perform at his best.

“Last year, as soon as I came back in Brno, I was seventh, then [later] I was fourth. So it seems like the podium was closer,” Martin reflected.

“But for me, it's more about feeling. Even in Hungary, where I was fourth, I didn't have that feeling. I still don't have the control under my legs.

“So this is my main target. I feel as soon as I have this feeling together with the bike, I will be fighting for victories.

“Because then I know how I can approach qualifying, then I will be starting more in front and everything will go easier. So this is the main work at the moment.”

Having missed much of the season, Martin admits his influence on development was limited, but believes his feedback still helped shape the 2026 RS-GP.

“I think for sure I am not the biggest part of the development of the [26] bike. But I think what I advised Fabiano [Sterlacchini] and the things I think we needed to change for this year were key.

“There are two or three things that were really, really important for me and I think also for Marco. I was pushing a lot for that and they brought it. So I think it will be interesting to understand how it will help.”

Martin declined to elaborate further.

“I just can say that they already brought something I was asking for in Valencia and I think it's working well with my riding style.”

Martin will make his first on-track appearance of 2026 during the Sepang test from February 3–5, the same circuit and test where his injury nightmare began last year.