Jorge Martin concerningly cautious for Qatar as MotoGP title hangs in the balance

Jorge Martin says he is unsure of how his body will respond to the demands of riding a MotoGP bike one week on from withdrawing from the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Martin will attempt his second return from injury at the Qatar Grand Prix this weekend. The Spaniard broke his wrist in Australia, an injury which was not sufficiently recovered for him to complete the weekend in Malaysia only a few days later. 

In Sepang, he rode on Friday but pulled out on Saturday, and ahead of Lusail he is still lacking confidence in his ability to even finish the weekend, let alone score points – his motivation for trying to return so hastily, of course, is his mathematical chance at the MotoGP title, which could be won by Marc Marquez at round 20 this weekend.

“It was a shame not to be able to carry on with the weekend at Sepang,” said Jorge Martin, “but just having the chance to try was an achievement in itself. 

“I went back to Spain to continue the treatment I need to recover from the injury and to get to Qatar in the best shape possible. 

“Now we’ll see how the body responds and start working with Aprilia from this Thursday to see how far we can go.”

Bezzecchi “keen” to right Malaysia wrongs

If Malaysia was a disaster for Martin, it was little better for Marco Bezzecchi, who was good in the Sprint to finish third, but was poor in the race, finishing sixth after a last lap error and a race which, in general, saw him struggle not only compared to Marquez but also to Pedro Acosta, Alex Marquez, and even Ai Ogura on the same bike.

“Sunday’s long race in Malaysia wasn’t easy, so I’m keen to put that right,” Bezzecchi said ahead of Qatar.

“I’m happy to be heading to Qatar. It’s a track I really like. 

“We’ll aim to get it right from the start, put together a good weekend and finish as well as we can before we head back to Europe.”