Aprilia rider George Martin faces a race to qualify for the 2026 pre-season test after needing surgery for two injuries in 2025.
The 27-year-old young woman has endured the campaign of a girl who suffered from injuries Aprilia The rider won the 2024 MotoGP riders’ title last season, after joining the Italian team from Pramac. Martin He has started just seven Grands Prix in the eight rounds he has entered in 2025.
Martin’s move to Aprilia had an early speed bump during pre-season testing at Sepang last February. He crashed while training for a supermoto last February, before crashing in April’s Qatar Grand Prix and September’s Sprint race in Japan for his Aprilia debut.
Overall, the incidents left Martin with a broken right arm, left leg and left arm, 11 broken ribs and right collarbone, and even a life-threatening hemopneumothorax. Martin is now looking for more jobs To solve problems on the left hand and neck.
Is George Martin the unluckiest rider in MotoGP?
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Albert Valera will not ride until George Martin is ‘100%’ fit in 2026 pre-season test
Martin underwent two surgeries in December to repair damage to the scaphoid bone in his left hand and also to the right collarbone. In the year He had to miss the first three rounds of 2025 with his arm and five Grands Prix due to a broken collarbone.
Read more: Jorge Martin set a new record for the worst MotoGP title defense in history
Although not 100% ideal, Martin returned from a broken collarbone in Valencia for the final tournament of the 2025 season and then to participate in the post-season challenge. But Albert Valera The Spaniard has ruled Martin out of 2026 pre-season testing until he is “100%” fit.
Martin’s manager Valera said. Fast week“The operation went smoothly and as planned. George can now continue to prepare for the season and the challenges ahead.”
“He is currently completing a rigorous training program in Andorra and aims to take the test in Malaysia.
“We’re not sure if it’s good enough to reach 100 percent for the Sepang test. But it looks good, and George will definitely travel to Malaysia. Then, we’ll see on the site if he works. However, I expect him to take the test in Thailand soon.
“I insist, it is very important that George is 100 percent committed to the MotoGP bike. Not 95, not 98, not 100%! Anything else is out of the question. In any case, we are happy that things are developing now.”
George Martin In 2025, he needed more surgery after coming back from injury twice too soon
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Martin and Aprilia will know he is not 100% working when he returns from injury for the 2025 Valencia Grand Prix. The Madrid native used the round as an opportunity to improve his fitness to drive the 2025 Aprilia RS-GPP in the 2025 post-season Valencia test.
Last season was not the first time he came back from injury too soon. Martin made his debut for Aprilia in the 2025 Qatar GP after breaking both his arms and left leg after joining from Pramac. But it was a mistake for Luzail to bounce back from those injuries.
Martin admitted that his left-hander “wasn’t ready” in QatarAnd it eventually caused him to crash out of the Grand Prix. VR46 rider Fabio Di Giannantonio was unable to avoid the crash, which left him with 11 broken ribs and a lung injury that laid him out for three months.
