“Never discount” Marc Marquez from MotoGP title: “Now he will be even fitter”

Jorge Martin has reiterated that nobody should discount Marc Marquez from this year’s MotoGP title fight ahead of the reigning champion’s return at Mugello.

Marc Marquez missed the recent Catalunya round while recovering from shoulder surgery, which involved removing two damaged screws compressing the radial nerve in his right arm.

The reigning MotoGP champion is 85 points behind Martin’s Aprilia team-mate Marco Bezzecchi, but Martin warned that he’ll soon be fitter than before.

“We can never discount Marc. I think now he will be even fitter than he was in the first few races,” Jorge Martin told MotoGP.com. “And it's always good to have the best riders in the world here racing. I hope we can enjoy a great battle.”

Martin suffered his worst weekend of the season in Catalunya, failing to score a point due to incidents in both races, then undergoing hospital checks after a big accident in the Monday test.

“I'm feeling better,” Martin said. “For sure, I'm not 100%, but I'm improving every day.

“Tomorrow will be a good test to understand my condition and where we have to work. on my physical side. But I'm used to it, I'm normally injured. It's just a small ligaments injury.”

The Spaniard’s 2025 injuries meant he missed Mugello last season.

“First time here with Aprilia, so I'm really looking forward to understanding how the bike can perform and how can I perform,” he said.,

“The last two times here I was on the podium, so I feel confident that we can at least in the fight.

“We need to be clever in terms of setup because we changed the bike for Barcelona, so I think we have to go back. But overall, we are confident.”

Martin starts the weekend 15-points behind Bezzecchi.