Martin Makes Aprilia Debut At
Barcelona MotoGP Test
J
ust two days on from the fi-
nale of the 2024 season, and
MotoGP promotion was insisting
2025 had already begun, as the
first preseason test took place
over a cool, sunny day in Barce-
lona.
Energy levels may have been
universally low after a punish-
ing conclusion to the year that
saw seven races held over nine
weeks. Yet newly crowned World
champ Jorge Martin's hotly an-
ticipated switch to Aprilia, Marc
Marquez's promotion to the fac-
tory Ducati team, as well as the
first sightings of three promising
rookies meant there was plenty
to pick through.
Final times made for inter-
esting reading. After a season
struggling on year-old machin-
ery, Alex Marquez (Gresini Duca-
ti) excelled on his first contact
with Ducati's GP24, while Fabio
Quartararo ensured Yamaha
ended the year on a high with
the second fastest time, three-
tenths of a second back.
And there was enough in the
performances of Francesco
Bagnaia (third) and Marc Mar
-
quez (fourth) to suggest Ducati
is already on its way to improv-
ing what was supposed to be
the perfect bike with the early
incarnation of the Desmosedici
GP25.
Yet the biggest story of the
day centered around the recently
crowned champ. Decked out in
all black like new teammate Mar
-
co Bezzecchi, Martin had one
RS-GP '24 and a RS-GP '25 to try.
His first run was shaky, the bike
loose and twitchy beneath him.
Yet come the afternoon, he was
dragging his shoulder on the
curb at turn five—hardly a sign
of a rider lacking confidence.
His day ended in a respectable
WIND
IN THE
P48
New MotoGP
Champion Jorge
Martin made his
Aprilia debut at the
Barcelona test.
