Jorge Martin says he believes he “will be able” to replicate the 2025 MotoGP success of Marco Bezzecchi in his second year with Aprilia.
Bezzecchi won three races in 2025 and finished third in the standings after a strong second half of his first season with Aprilia.
Martin, meanwhile, struggled through multiple injuries in his own Aprilia debut MotoGP season, and ended the year with only four finishes to his name and no podiums.
The Spanish rider was considering a move away from Noale at the end of 2025 in the middle of the year but ultimately decided to complete the second year of his contract, and he is now aiming to find the same kind of level as Bezzecchi was able to last year in 2026.
“Now it’s time to find [full fitness], to be ready to give my 100 per cent,” Martin told MotoGP.com at the Aprilia team launch in Milan.
“I’m sure that if Marco was able to do it, Raul [Fernandez] was able to do it, I will be able to do it.”
Martin said that there were lessons to be taken from his 2025 campaign, and while he is heading into 2026 with optimism he is also approaching the new season with an apparent degree of caution.
“For sure, after last season I had a lot of lessons that I took from it,” he said.
“Now I’m really excited to start this new season with a big opportunity to sign again, because last season was really dark. So, I’m really optimistic.
“The bike is improving a lot, and we could see that last season with Marco [Bezzecchi] and other Aprilia riders that were really strong. So, really looking forward to start.
“For sure I need my time, I need to go from less to more, I don’t want to go and crash again so I need my time to adapt. As soon as I’m together with the bike and fully fit we can be ready for everything.”
Aprilia Racing CEO added that Aprilia is yet to really make a proper beginning with Martin, such were the severity and quantity of the disruptions in 2025.
“With Jorge [Martin] we need to start; sooner or later we need to start with him because at the end we didn’t so far,” Rivola told MotoGP.com.
“I think he needs to stay calm, he needs a bit of time, especially at the beginning, to recover fully physically, and then to start getting the confidence.”
