Jorge Martin’s dream Aprilia double at track where “I wanted to leave”

Jorge Martin propelled himself firmly into the MotoGP title fight by hunting down team-mate Marco Bezzecchi to secure his first grand prix victory for Aprilia.

The Spaniard completed a perfect Le Mans weekend, adding Sunday’s grand prix triumph to Saturday’s Sprint success.

The result carried extra significance, given Le Mans was the same circuit where Jorge Martin, then in the midst of his injury woes, unsuccessfully attempted to leave Aprilia a year ago.

Massimo Rivola fought to keep Martin, who eventually backed down, and the Spaniard is now just one point behind title leader Bezzecchi.

“It wasn't only physical, the mental side was really tough for me last season,” reflected Martin, who joined Aprilia after winning the 2024 MotoGP title with Pramac Ducati but endured a series of training, testing and race weekend injuries.

“I remember being here and telling Massimo that I wanted to leave. Because at that point, I thought it was the best option.

“But now I'm thankful to Massimo for retaining me. I'm thankful for my decision to finally stop the fight and stay in Aprilia. And I'm really happy that everything is on the right direction.

“I am grateful for everything that happened to me, because it makes me the man I am today. It's just a part of the process of life.”

“My arm pump was shouting out there!”

Martin’s Le Mans victories came under very different circumstances.

On Saturday, he blasted from eighth on the grid to the lead in the opening corners and controlled the Sprint from the front.

Sunday’s grand prix was much tougher.

Martin was only seventh on the opening lap while Bezzecchi, who had previously led every lap of the Thai, Brazil and US grands prix, again hit the front.

“During the last year, I learned to never give up,” Martin said. “And today one was one of those races.

“I didn't start well, but I never gave up. Even if I was not feeling well, the front was moving a lot behind the other riders - yesterday with clean air was much easier.

“But I was trying to overtake rider by rider and I was able to manage the first few laps, so at the end I had something more. But I gave it my all. My arm pump was shouting out there!

“So yeah, I'm really happy for the job we did with Aprilia. Still I need to work on races like today when I’m behind people, but when I am in front, I really can make good lines.”

Martin explained that his goals changed several times during the 27-lap race.

“During the first laps I was like, top five will be okay. Then I was able to overtake Diggia and I saw Pedro and Pecco. When Peco crashed, I said, okay, podium is perfect.

“Then I was able to overtake Pedro and at that point, 10 to go, was when I said, okay, I can catch Marco. I saw he was struggling a lot with the rear grip, so I just put the hammer down, changed some maps and was ready to go.

“I didn't know if after the overtake I would be able to pull away, but I did, so this gave me some rest for the last few laps.”

Martin eventually claimed his first grand prix victory since Indonesia 2024 by 0.477s over Bezzecchi.

Ai Ogura completed an all-Aprilia podium in third place.

Despite Martin’s spectacular revival, he is understood to have already lost his seat at Aprilia to Pecco Bagnaia for 2027 and agreed to join Yamaha.