T
he Jorge Martin saga pro-
vided a grumbling back-
drop to the first half of the
MotoGP season. Just how will it
illuminate the second half?
The story had already begun
in 2024, when his dismay at be
-
ing passed over (again!) by the
Ducati factory erupted. The pre-
vious year, it had been in favor
of Enea Bastianini, who went on
to have a ghastly, injury-racked
season while the Spaniard
fought bitterly against Pecco
Bagnaia for the title. And won it.
This time the snub was in favor
of Marc Marquez, and we've all
seen how that played out.
For Martin, enough was
enough. He promptly signed for
Aprilia, hoping, no doubt, that
the other Italian marque could
pose a credible challenge to
Ducati domination. After all,
Aprilia was the only other ma
-
chine to win anything in 2024.
His year started with all the
wrong kind of drama—crashes
and injuries. The second bout,
incurred during a comeback
ride at Qatar's fourth round, was
very serious—broken ribs and a
collapsed lung among them. He
had been struck by the Honda of
the unfortunate Joan Mir after
falling late in the race. Exactly
the sort of crash that accounts
for most of today's mercifully
rare racing fatalities.
Small wonder that his con
-
fidence in Aprilia collapsed
as he lay fearing for his life in
intensive care in Doha, and in
P152
CN IIIN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
Now that Jorge
Martin is returning
to form again, can
he soon challenge
Marc Marquez
for wins in the 10
remaining races?
PHOTO: GOLD & GOOSE
BLACK OR RED?
MOTOGP'S
ROULETTE WHEEL
SPINS AGAIN
