Jorge Martin Admits Errors Amid Barcelona MotoGP Chaos

Jorge Martin admitted he had the pace to fight for a podium at the 2026 Catalunya MotoGP despite enduring another crash-filled weekend with Aprilia.

The Madrid-born rider suffered two additional crashes on Saturday in Barcelona, extending a difficult sequence of incidents which has repeatedly disrupted his preparations for the main grand prix.

Despite the setbacks, Martin refused to dramatise the situation and instead highlighted the enormous effort made by the Aprilia crew to continuously rebuild the RS-GP after multiple crashes throughout the weekend.

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"First of all, I want to thank the team because after four crashes I only have some minor injuries. They have not even had time to eat and they are still doing an incredible job," Martin explained following Saturday’s sessions.

From a performance perspective, Martin believes Aprilia’s overall progress has actually been positive compared to Friday. He felt increasingly competitive particularly in braking stability and high-speed corner entry performance.

"From yesterday to today we made a big step. Today I felt I had the possibility to fight for the podium and I felt very good on the bike," he said.

However, the Aprilia Racing rider admitted he became slightly too aggressive while trying to approach the limit of grip around Barcelona’s notoriously low-grip layout, especially with strong tailwind conditions affecting braking zones.

"I was a little too optimistic. There was some tailwind and in the end every crash always has a human mistake behind it. I probably made a mistake," Martin admitted.

Martin also provided an update on his physical condition after suffering several crashes throughout the Catalunya weekend.

He revealed he is dealing with bruising across multiple areas of his body as well as minor ankle pain, although he stressed there is nothing serious enough to prevent him from racing on Sunday.

"This weekend I am probably only at around 80 percent physically, but I will give everything I have," Martin explained.

According to the Spanish rider, the biggest challenge in Barcelona has been consistently finding the grip limit, particularly as track temperatures and tyre behaviour continue changing throughout each session.

"This is a circuit where it is very easy to make mistakes. When you finally find the limit, usually you are already on the ground," he said.

Martin also insisted he is not obsessed with immediately taking over the championship lead despite remaining very close to team-mate Marco Bezzecchi in the standings.

"That does not keep me awake at night. The important thing is simply scoring as many points as possible and continuing to move forward," Martin added.

With Aprilia still showing strong underlying pace in Barcelona, Martin now faces the challenge of converting podium-level speed into a clean race result after a weekend dominated by crashes, mistakes, and physical strain.