MotoGP 2026
Round 19 – Sepang – Martin aiming to ride
Jorge Martin will travel to Malaysia in a bid to race at Sepang this weekend, despite the fractured radius he sustained when his spectacular Phillip Island Sprint battle with Marc Marquez ended in the gravel.
Aprilia has confirmed that Martin is undergoing treatment for a non-displaced fracture of the distal radius, near the wrist. His fitness will be assessed over the coming days, with his participation in the nineteenth round of the championship still to be determined.
He heads to Malaysia ten points behind Marquez, a deficit that could have been considerably worse had Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix gone ahead.
A duel that deserved an encore
For as long as it lasted, Martin’s fight with Marquez on Saturday was perhaps the best direct confrontation between the two leading championship contenders we have witnessed this season.
The Aprilia rider had the pace, Marquez had an answer, and neither was prepared to let the other dictate terms. They traded the lead through Phillip Island’s fast, flowing corners and hard braking zones, turning a championship separated by just two points into a wonderfully uncompromising scrap on track.
Lap eight distilled it all into a few corners. Martin attacked at Turn One, Marquez responded at Southern Loop, Martin forced his way back through at Turn Four, and Marc answered again at Siberia. Then Martin lost the front at Hayshed, bringing both his Sprint and his Australian weekend to an abrupt end.
Marquez subsequently acknowledged that Martin had been setting a pace he could not match.
Marc Marquez – after the Phillip Island Sprint
“The pace was really fast, and it was clear that he had a rhythm I couldn’t match.”
It was a contest that whetted our appetite for the remaining rounds. Unfortunately, Phillip Island then became rather too wet, with Sunday’s poor visibility preventing the medical helicopter from operating and ultimately forcing the cancellation of the Grand Prix.
Phillip Island Sprint report, results and championship standings
A get out of jail free card
For Martin’s title prospects, Sunday’s cancellation amounted to something of a get out of jail free card.
Already declared unfit for the Grand Prix, he had faced watching Marquez race for another 25 points without being able to respond. A victory for the Ducati rider would have stretched the gap to 35 points.
Instead, Marquez carries a ten-point advantage into Sepang, on 365 points to Martin’s 355. The injury remains a serious complication, but the championship damage from Australia was contained to Saturday’s twelve-point swing.
With four rounds and a maximum of 148 points still available, Martin remains firmly in contention. The immediate uncertainty is how much of that remaining racing he will be fit enough to contest.
Australian MotoGP cancellation report and championship implications
Martin taking recovery day by day
Aprilia’s update confirms Martin’s intention to travel, while leaving his return to the track dependent on the assessments ahead.
Jorge Martin
“I’m getting the treatment I need to recover from the injury and arrive at Sepang in the best possible shape. It’s impossible to make any predictions. We have to assess the situation day by day”.
Sepang will ask plenty of an injured rider. The 5.54-kilometre circuit combines 15 corners, ten right-handers and five left-handers, with heavy braking at the ends of its two long straights. Add Malaysia’s heat and humidity, and being able to sustain the effort across a race becomes a significant part of the challenge.
Sepang offers hope against Marquez
If Martin can ride competitively, Malaysia offers some grounds for optimism. Sepang has generally been harder work for Marquez than his favourite hunting grounds.
He won the Malaysian MotoGP races in 2014 and 2018, but his most recent Grand Prix appearance there ended with a crash out of podium contention before he remounted to finish twelfth in 2024.
Speaking after that race, Marquez described Sepang as “a track that has always been a challenging one for me”.
That history gives Martin reason to want to be on the grid, although his own condition and Aprilia’s competitiveness this weekend will determine whether he can exploit the opportunity.
Bezzecchi still in the picture
Marco Bezzecchi also remains in contention, arriving in Malaysia third in the championship on 315 points, 50 behind Marquez and 40 behind his Aprilia team-mate.
Bezzecchi finished fourth in the Phillip Island Sprint, just over a second from victory, before Sunday’s cancellation denied him the opportunity to build on that performance.
Marco Bezzecchi
“I can’t wait to get to Sepang, especially since we couldn’t race at Phillip Island. I’m happy to be going back to a track as fantastic as Sepang. Let’s hope the weather is kind to us and that we can carry on with the work we’re doing”.
For Martin, the first hurdle is the assessment of his fitness. Phillip Island’s weather kept the gap to Marquez at ten points; his recovery will determine how much of a fight he can take to the championship leader in Malaysia.
MotoGP Championship Points
 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | M. Marquez | 365 |
| 2 | J. Martin | 355 |
| 3 | M. Bezzecchi | 315 |
| 4 | P. Acosta | 263 |
| 5 | A. Ogura | 259 |
| 6 | F. Di Giannantonio | 252 |
| 7 | R. Fernandez | 236 |
| 8 | A. Marquez | 181 |
| 9 | F. Bagnaia | 166 |
| 10 | F. Aldeguer | 125 |
| 11 | E. Bastianini | 122 |
| 12 | L. Marini | 108 |
| 13 | B. Binder | 108 |
| 14 | D. Moreira | 76 |
| 15 | F. Quartararo | 74 |
| 16 | F. Morbidelli | 59 |
| 17 | J. Zarco | 51 |
| 18 | J. Mir | 33 |
| 19 | J. Miller | 31 |
| 20 | A. Rins | 25 |
| 21 | T. Razgatlioglu | 18 |
| 22 | M. Viñales | 12 |
| 23 | I. Lecuona | 10 |
| 24 | A. Fernandez | 6 |
| 25 | P. Espargaro | 5 |
| 26 | S. Chantra | 3 |
| 27 | T. Nakagami | 3 |
| 28 | C. Crutchlow | 0 |
| 29 | J. Folger | 0 |
| 30 | L. Savadori | 0 |
| 31 | M. Pirro | 0 |
| 32 | A. Espargaro | 0 |
MotoGP Calendar
|
|||
|
Rnd
|
Date
|
Event
|
Circuit
|
| 1 |
01 Mar
|
Thai
|
Chang International Circuit
|
| 2 |
22 Mar
|
Brazil*
|
Autodromo Internacional Ayrton Senna
|
| 3 |
29 Mar
|
US
|
Circuit of the Americas
|
| 4 |
26 Apr
|
Spain**
|
Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto
|
| 5 |
10 May
|
France
|
Le Mans
|
| 6 |
17 May
|
Catalonia
|
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
|
| 7 |
31 May
|
Italy
|
Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello
|
| 8 |
07 Jun
|
Hungary
|
Balaton Park Circuit
|
| 9 |
21 Jun
|
Czech
|
Automotodrom Brno
|
| 10 |
28 Jun
|
Netherlands
|
TT Circuit Assen
|
| 11 |
12 Jul
|
Germany
|
Sachsenring
|
| 12 |
09 Aug
|
GB
|
Silverstone Circuit
|
| 13 |
30 Aug
|
Aragon
|
MotorLand Aragon
|
| 14 |
13 Sep
|
San Marino
|
Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
|
| 15 |
20 Sep
|
Austria
|
Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
|
| 16 |
04 Oct
|
Japan
|
Mobility Resort Motegi
|
| 17 |
11 Oct
|
Indonesia
|
Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit
|
| 18 |
25 Oct
|
Australia
|
Phillip Island
|
| 19 |
01 Nov
|
Malaysia
|
Petronas Sepang International Circuit
|
| 20 |
08 Nov
|
Qatar
|
Lusail International Circuit
|
| 21 |
22 Nov
|
Portugal
|
Autodromo Internacional do Algarve
|
| 22 |
29 Nov
|
Valencia
|
Circuit Ricardo Tormo
|
