Jorge Martin has admitted that his chances of winning the 2026 MotoGP title are over following his withdrawal from the Malaysian Grand Prix, although he remains determined to fight until the end of the season.

The factory Aprilia rider attempted to race at Sepang just a week after breaking his right wrist in the Phillip Island sprint, but was ultimately forced to withdraw from the weekend just before the start of qualifying.

Having already dropped to second in the championship in Australia, 10 points behind Marc Marquez, Martin is expected to lose further ground to his Ducati rival across the two points-paying races at Sepang.

With only three rounds remaining after Malaysia, the Spaniard has conceded that he considers his title challenge effectively over.

“For sure, the championship is there. I think now I don't have to think about the championship. Maybe I can win it, but for me it's already lost.”

However, the Spaniard remains keen to put up a fight in the closing stages of the season for the sake of Aprilia, which is fighting for its maiden titles in MotoGP.

“For sure, I will fight till the end,” he vowed. “Not only for me, because at the end of the day I'm already champion [in 2024], but for my team, for my people I will fight till the end.”

Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team

Photo by: Mohd Rasfan - AFP - Getty Images

While the non-displaced radius fracture that Martin suffered usually takes several weeks to heal, the Spaniard underwent an extensive recovery programme in a bid to race in Malaysia.

But after returning to the track in FP3 to assess his conditions, Martin ultimately decided that he wasn’t fit enough to continue with the weekend.

The 28-year-old is now hoping to recover sufficiently in order to take part in next week’s Qatar Grand Prix.

“I tried, I tried my best, I tried to ride, but the process of healing is still early,” he said.

“The healing is going really fast, but not enough to be efficient on the bike. I felt that I could ride with almost no pain, but for maybe one lap. After that, I started to have a lot of pain, I couldn't be constant. So watching the lap times and my performance, we decided to stop, to try to wait.

“Also, we have Qatar next week and my target is to go there. We thought together with the team that what I was doing was too much to continue and nothing to gain. It was going to be really difficult even to make one point, so we want to stop, try to rest, let the arm recover.”

Martin admitted that his decision to withdraw was also necessary to avoid aggravating the injury further. 

He said he was keen to avoid repeating past mistakes, particularly in 2025, when he rushed back to race in Qatar following a double injury sustained during pre-season.

“I didn't have the strength that I really want, because as soon as I feel the pain for sure I need to relieve the handlebars. 

“So it wasn't the best idea to continue, because if I continue, I didn't learn anything from the past. This happened to me in the past and I didn't want to crash or have a worse injury because of trying to race like this. 

“So I tried it, I gave my everything. I think all we were doing was incredible, so the pain was really under control, but I wasn't efficient for riding for 20 laps, so it was useless to continue making laps and continue deteriorating the hand. 

“So it's better to wait, to try to make the bone heal a little bit more for one more week, and for sure in Qatar I will feel better.”

Martin will immediately fly back to Spain on Saturday to focus on rehabilitation and prepare for his comeback in Losail.

“It's a bit the same plan I had during this week. All the therapies I am able to do at home,” he said.

“I will go back home today, because at least tomorrow, Sunday, I can start my therapies already. 

“During this week, the improvement was incredible. I was able to ride a MotoGP with a broken wrist, so it's crazy. I was under two minutes, so I'm already proud of my performance. I'm happy.

“For sure, it's a pity. I'm really disappointed and frustrated, but this is our job. I haven't recovered yet. 

“The improvement I had during this week was incredible. If I have the same recovery process during this week, I will feel maybe 80%. If I am able to do 20 laps, for sure I can be in the points.”