Jorge Martin’s Valencia MotoGP retirement was pre-planned with Aprilia

Jorge Martin has revealed that he and Aprilia had already decided he wouldn’t complete the Valencia Grand Prix, feeling he still wasn’t fit enough to finish a full MotoGP race.

Having skipped the last four rounds of the season due to a collarbone injury, Martin made it to the 15th lap of Sunday’s 27-lap Valencia round before pulling into the pits to retire from the race.

The entire Aprilia crew gave him a round of applause as he stopped outside the garage, as they celebrated his comeback at the end of a wretched season that saw him suffer four separate injuries.

When the 2024 champion dropped to 21st position at the start of the race after deliberately running off track on the opening lap, it was already clear that his intention was to ride at the back to avoid further drama.

But speaking in his post-race media debrief, Martin revealed that even his mid-race withdrawal was pre-planned, as the pain he was still feeling would have made it impossible to reach the finish line.

“I perfectly saw the place to go [in the field] and I just went out of the race [track],” he explained.

“It made no sense for me today to just be in the pack because you also saw [the crash] with [Johann] Zarco and Pecco [Bagnaia]. I didn’t want this to happen to me, so I just went out.

“I did my two laps and then I just tried to understand things about the bike.

“Anyway, I was really, really tired the whole weekend, so the target already before the race was to stop. We spoke together with the team and the most intelligent decision was to stop after a few laps.

“I did 15 laps, a bit more than [the sprint race] yesterday, so this is a good sign. But I was really tired and [struggling] with pain, so it made no sense to continue.”

Martin had already warned on Friday that another crash this weekend would be a “disaster” for him, insisting his body — just six weeks on from the collarbone surgery — wouldn’t be able to take such a hit.

However, returning to action in Valencia was essential, especially with Circuit Ricardo Tormo hosting the post-season test on Tuesday.

“For sure, I have pain, but the thing is I couldn’t crash, so I did a weekend just riding [and] for not crashing,” he said on Sunday. “You lose a lot of time not risking during the weekend, and this won’t be a problem in February. Now it’s time to recover.”

As part of the upgraded package he will test on Tuesday, Martin will use the same frame with which team-mate Marco Bezzecchi and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez scored a 1-2 finish for Aprilia at the Valencia GP.

“Today, I changed a few things on the bike that weren’t in the [right] direction. So just [gathering] more information,” he added. “We know a bit more, we know that’s not the way, working a bit on the maps, understanding what I need on this bike. I feel we are improving and we are making steps.

“Now the important thing is to try on Tuesday because my condition still is not 100%. Then the next time on the bike in February, I will be ready to [take] risks and to take the three or four tenths that are missing for victory.”

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— The Motorsport.com Team