Jorge Martin Confirms MotoGP Return Delayed Even Further
Jorge Martin has confirmed he could miss a further two MotoGP rounds, including the upcoming race in Austin, Texas
In a surprise video call during Thursday’s pre-event press conference for the Argentina MotoGP, Jorge Martin revealed an update on his return and it was not good news.
Recovering slower than expected, Martin confirmed he would miss the next round after Argentina which is COTA (Circuit of the Americas) in Texas, but there’s more, as the reigning world champion could also miss out on the Qatar Grand Prix a few weeks later.
The American GP in Texas takes place at the end of March, while the Qatar MotoGP is scheduled for 11-13 April, meaning Martin could be out of action for another month.
If that's the case the Aprilia rider is likely going to wave goodbye to any realistic title defence given Ducati’s dominance in Thailand, and the fact Martin could be returning after missing four races if not more.
“I'm struggling to recover as fast as I would like," Martin admitted. "I won’t be in Austin. And I don’t know if I’ll be ready for Qatar yet, either. I’d like to do some kind of test before returning to racing.
"It's hard to watch from home, but I will follow closely again this weekend," Martin said. "I'm cheering for Aprilia, hopefully they can improve a bit more and be close to the podium."
In a bid to speed up his recovery once he’s able to get back aboard a motorcycle, Martin could use a production superbike to evaluate his fitness as his the next chance to test himself on a MotoGP bike, outside of a Grand Prix, would be the Official test after round five, at Jerez at the end of April.
During his absence in Thailand, Aprilia managed to secure a strong set of results at the season-opener, with rookie Ai Ogura fourth in both races for the Trackhouse Racing team, while Marco Bezzecchi made a strong start to life as a factory Aprilia Racing rider.
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After graduating with a sports journalism degree, Robert joined Crash.net to lead the WorldSBK coverage in 2021, while also providing MotoGP coverage. Fulfilling that role for over three years, Robert was able to put his knowledge about all things racing to the test.
