Jorge Martin, Aprilia’s MotoGP rider, believes the 2026 title is “already lost” after withdrawing from the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang. The Spaniard pulled out after Saturday morning’s practice, having completed three sessions.

Martin suffered a distal radius fracture in a crash during the sprint race at Phillip Island. He got back on the bike just six days later at Sepang, in a desperate attempt to stay in the championship fight and limit the damage against leader Marc Marquez.

Pain and lack of strength force withdrawal

“I tried, I did my best, I tried to ride, but the recovery process is still in its early stages,” Martin explained. “The recovery is progressing quickly, but not enough for me to be effective on the bike. I felt I could ride almost without pain, but only for one lap. After that, I started to feel a lot of pain, I couldn’t be consistent, so, looking at the lap times and my performance, we decided to stop and wait. Together with the team, we felt that the effort I was putting in was too much to continue and, yes, there was nothing to gain. It would have been very difficult even to score a point.”

Martin said he lacked the strength he needed under braking. He also referred to his past attempts to shorten recovery periods, particularly in 2025, a year plagued by injuries.

He specifically recalled his return to racing in Qatar last year, where he ran out of energy during the race, crashed and suffered a serious injury after being hit by another rider’s bike. “Continuing wasn’t the best idea,” he said of the weekend, “because if I carried on, it would show that I hadn’t learnt anything from the past.”

The championship and the return to Qatar

When asked by The Race how he viewed the championship situation following his withdrawal, Martin admitted: “I think I don’t have to think about the championship now. Maybe I can win it, but for me it’s already lost. So I’ll fight until the end, not just for myself, because at the end of the day I’m already a champion [in 2024], but for my team, for my people, I’ll fight until the end, I’ll try again in Qatar. Otherwise, I would stay at home and rest.”

Martin is currently 10 points behind Marquez, who could triple or quadruple that advantage at Sepang after qualifying second.

Martin is returning to Spain immediately, but still intends to try to race in Qatar next weekend, should the round go ahead. “The improvement this week has been incredible. I managed to ride a MotoGP bike with a broken wrist, it’s crazy. And I was under two minutes [in lap time]! I’m already proud of my performance. My goal is to go to Qatar. I’ll go there and try. Then, if I feel the same, I’ll have to stop. But we’ll see in Qatar.”