(PRIMASPORT) SEPANG – Less than a week later, the MotoGP championship could dramatically turn out to be less secure than it appeared after the devastating results of the Phillip Island Sprint Race. Last Saturday, Jorge Martin suffered a fractured distal radius in his right arm, forcing him to miss the Australian Grand Prix, which was subsequently cancelled by the entire MotoGP season due to adverse weather conditions. Now, just days after his arm injury, the Spaniard has been given the green light to at least participate in Friday's free practice to assess the possibility of competing in the Malaysian Grand Prix, which sees him trailing championship leader Marc Marquez by 10 points. A recovery that, if it materialises, it would not be an exaggeration to call prodigious, and which re-opens the championship duel between Ducati and Aprilia. A battle in which Marco Bezzecchi and Alex, the brother of the reigning world champion who also leads the 2026 championship standings after a thus far unstoppable recovery, also intend to be key players. (PRIMASPORT)
At Aprilia, however, everything so far has been walking a fine line between hope and determination and the necessary caution. "I'm taking a lot of risks," Martin admitted to DAZN's Spanish newsroom. "One more crash or even a simple wrong move could lead to a complete fracture of the bone. I'm willing to try, but first I need to see if I can tolerate the pain. Let's be clear, I'm here in Sepang to test. It's a test. I have low expectations, but it's a decision I have to make to see if I can still fight for the world championship. I'm only here because there's a title at stake; otherwise, I would have stayed home for a month in a cast and would only have returned in Portimao." "His accident happened just six days ago, and Jorge is showing us his fighting spirit," observed the Noale-based manufacturer's Racing Manager, Paolo Bonora. "He's in a lot of pain, and seeing him here is something special. It won't be easy for him, but the medical team deemed him fit. So he'll try, he'll certainly do it without taking any unnecessary risks. We're not pushing him in any way." If anything, Bezzecchi should aim for a forceful return to the top of the table within the team. "The gap I have to Marquez in the standings is a limitation, but if I want to stay in contention for the title, I need to score as many points as possible compared to him. I'll give my all in every session; anything can happen in racing, and 50 points behind is a lot. I'm happy that Martin is here; in his place, Marc and I would have made the same decision. But now I don't want to think too big; I want to race and see how it goes without setting my expectations too high," assured the rider from Rimini.
The one who potentially has everything to lose is the big favorite for the Malaysian Grand Prix, a man who has only won twice in MotoGP in his career (the most recent one dating back to 2018). He's Marc Marquez, who for the first time this year is starting a race weekend as the sole leader of the standings but still prefers to stay low-key: "At this stage of the season, you have to take risks. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have won in Australia either. I'll go out on track with the same mentality as always, and then we'll see how we stack up against the Aprilias. I'm very pleased that Martin will be there, but I'm not surprised; riders always try. And if they've given him the green light, I imagine he'll be fine and that he'll be fast too." And at Ducati, there seems to be room for another variable: the race support of his brother Alex Marquez, who, despite riding for another team (the one bearing the name of Fausto Gresini), gave the impression on Sunday at Phillip Island that he wasn't willing to attack him for the win. A reading that the eldest son of the Cervera family wanted to deny, but only up to a point: "We'll both try to win. Then again, when you race, everyone knows what they have to do, and in some cases, there's no need to talk between brothers.".