MotoGP, Sportrik Media - Jorge Martin rated his performance at the 2026 Thai MotoGP as “9 out of 10” after finishing fourth at Buriram. The Aprilia rider believes he is only a small step away from joining team-mate Marco Bezzecchi in fighting for victories this season.
While Bezzecchi’s dominant victory grabbed the headlines in Thailand, Martin was almost equally satisfied with his own performance. The Spanish rider entered the opening round of the season with limited preparation after completing just two days of pre-season testing following follow-up surgery related to injuries suffered last year.
Despite the restricted preparation, Martin delivered a competitive weekend and was involved in battles with several leading riders. During the race he fought with rivals including Marc Marquez and championship leader Pedro Acosta before ultimately finishing roughly three seconds ahead of the Trackhouse Racing Aprilia of Raul Fernandez.
One of the most encouraging aspects for Martin was regaining the feeling he previously had on a MotoGP bike after a 2025 season heavily disrupted by injuries. The former world champion explained that the Buriram weekend marked the first time he felt fully competitive again on the RS-GP.
“I'm super happy,” Martin said.
“After just two days of testing to be able to race here, improve my base and finish top five in both races and qualifying was nice.”
At the start of the grand prix, Martin felt comfortable enough to challenge the riders ahead and push the bike harder as the race developed.
“At the beginning of the grand prix, I was feeling super good. I was fighting again with Marc and with Pedro. I felt again, I'm the same as I used to be,” he explained.
However, Martin acknowledged there are still areas where improvement is needed if he wants to consistently challenge Bezzecchi and the riders at the very front of the field.
“For sure, I need to keep improving my setup to catch Marco and the rest. But, for example, Raul wasn't really far away from me, so the podium was possible,” he added.
The Spaniard described his Thai MotoGP performance as close to ideal, given his limited preparation and physical recovery.
“I can rate it maybe as a 9 out of 10 because I could be at that position, but I'm super happy to finish. That was my target, and to keep making steps forward.”
Martin also admitted his physical condition was stronger than expected heading into the season opener.
“I'm much closer to full fitness than I expected, actually,” he said.
“At the test, just making 12 laps was too much for me. In the Sprint, 13 laps were OK. And today, 26, was tricky, but not more than usual.”
Beyond physical recovery, Martin stressed that the key challenge now is understanding the RS-GP machine more deeply. Each lap has helped him better identify areas where he needs to improve his riding and setup.
“It's more about understanding the bike. Every lap, I'm getting more and more adapted to the bike. I feel what my weak point is and where I need to keep improving,” he explained.
According to Martin, the work done throughout the weekend was largely focused on refining small technical details that could unlock additional performance.
“Overall, I worked really, really hard this weekend to understand these small points to improve.”
“Today, I did another step. I think there will be other races where I will feel better, some where I will struggle. But overall, the bike is working really, really good for me.”
The next objective for Martin is to establish a stable base setup so he can attack consistently rather than continuously adapting his riding style to the bike.
“It's just that I need to find my base so I can ride everywhere. Now I'm always adapting to the style of the bike.”
“So as soon as I can attack as I want, I will make another small step, and this small step will bring me to the fight for victory.”
Martin’s strong weekend has placed him fourth in the early MotoGP championship standings. Meanwhile Bezzecchi sits second in the standings behind Acosta, who leads the championship heading into the next round of the season.
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