News Summary
- Jorge Martín finished fifth in FP1 and seventh in Friday evening Practice at Lusail, securing direct entry to Q2 on his return from injury.
- The Aprilia rider says changes of direction and deep lean angles still hurt. He is targeting a start on the first two rows for both races.
- Eight points across the sprint and Grand Prix would keep Martín in the title race even if Marc Márquez wins both.
On Thursday, Jorge Martín was still talking about what he could do with his right wrist. By Friday night in Qatar, he was talking about the first two rows of the grid.
That change in ambition tells the story of Martín’s first day back on the Aprilia. He finished fifth in the afternoon, then went straight into Q2 with seventh place under the floodlights. For a rider who withdrew in Malaysia a week earlier, that was the first evidence that he could get close enough to the front to influence the title race himself.
Marc Márquez still had the stronger Friday. He led FP1 and finished second in the evening despite a broken chain, lapping 0.493s faster than Martín in the session that mattered for qualifying. But Martín can afford to give away places to the Ducati this weekend. If he collects 8 points, Márquez will have to wait for another round to clinch his eighth premier-class championship.
From fighting for the win to fighting the calendar
Two weeks ago, Martín was racing Márquez for victory in the Australian sprint when he fell at Turn 8 at Phillip Island and fractured his right radius near the wrist. Márquez won and took over the championship lead. Sunday’s Grand Prix was later cancelled, leaving Martín with a week to recover before Sepang.
He got medical clearance in Malaysia and rode in practice, but withdrew before qualifying. At Lusail, Martín put his wrist at roughly 50%, up from 20% in Malaysia. The cast had come off and movement was returning, although the fracture was still healing.
After passing Friday’s medical review, he set a 1:53.012 in FP1 and improved to 1:51.041 in the evening. The second time secured the more useful result. Martín can go straight into the session that decides the first four rows for both the sprint and the Grand Prix, saving himself an extra qualifying session on an injured wrist.
A fast lap answers only part of the question
“Braking is what worries me least right now. Changes of direction are much harder, and I also feel pain at high lean angles,” Martín said after Friday practice.
Martín said he was getting used to riding through the pain and hoped treatment would help if the wrist reacted to the workload. He felt better in the evening than he had in FP1 and wanted to see how the wrist felt on Saturday morning before judging how much more he could find.
Riding at the limit for a qualifying lap was still the hardest part, he said. His target of a top-six grid position makes sense beyond the headline result. A start on the first two rows would give him track position to work with in both races, and Saturday’s sprint offers an early chance to score before Sunday’s longer test.
Friday showed that Martín could put a quick lap together. The question now is how much pace he can hold through repeated changes of direction over 11 sprint laps and 22 Grand Prix laps.
Why eighth on Sunday could be enough
Márquez arrived in Qatar 44 points ahead of Martín and 67 clear of Marco Bezzecchi. He needs to gain at least 30 points on Martín across the weekend and eliminate Bezzecchi from contention as well. Even a sprint win leaves the title open until Sunday.
A sweep would give Márquez 37 points. If Martín takes 8, the gap grows by only 29, leaving it at 73 with 74 still available across Portugal and Valencia.
That makes eighth place in the Grand Prix enough on its own. Martín could also get there with seventh in the sprint and 11th on Sunday, worth 3 and 5 points respectively. If Márquez drops points, the target can come down.
Martín spent Friday finding out what his wrist would let him do. On Saturday, the first points of the weekend will tell him how much work he still has to do on Sunday. See the full Qatar MotoGP schedule and international start times.
GRANDE PRÊMIO is following every session of the Qatar Grand Prix in MotoGP.
