Jorge Martin Says German MotoGP Race Work Was Useless

Jorge Martin admitted that much of his German MotoGP race preparation had proved ineffective because he only found a more suitable set-up direction during the Sprint at the Sachsenring.

The championship leader had previously complained of having no clear strengths on the Aprilia throughout Friday. He qualified ninth before recovering to sixth in the Sprint and pressuring Raul Fernandez during the closing stages.

Martin explained that a lack of confidence in the front end forced the team to make extensive changes before the Sprint. Those adjustments included electronics and the motorcycle’s base set-up, effectively turning Saturday’s race into an additional practice session.

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“All the work we did until the race was useless. The Sprint was like my FP2, so I still need to continue improving,” Martin said.

The revised direction helped Martin reduce his deficit to the other Aprilia riders. He had been three to four tenths slower during the morning but was able to close on Fernandez and Ai Ogura in the Sprint.

Martin identified his main issue as an inability to bring every performance element together early enough on Fridays. That leaves him consistently late in finding the package required for Sunday, a weakness he wants to address before the second half of the season.

He also acknowledged that Ducati remained one step ahead of Aprilia throughout the Sachsenring weekend. Starting further back on the grid will make it even more difficult to challenge the Ducati riders in the main race.

The only clear positive from the Sprint was Martin’s aggressive start, when he passed Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo on the opening lap. However, he stressed that Aprilia still needs another improvement to protect its championship position before the summer break.