Jorge Martin Explains the Gap Between His Qualifying Speed and Race Results

The reigning MotoGP champion, Jorge Martin, has opened up about the ongoing challenge of matching his qualifying speed with his race-day performance as he continues to adapt to the Aprilia RS-GP. Since returning from injury mid-season, Martin has shown flashes of brilliance in races, carving through the field to fight for strong results, yet his struggles in qualifying have repeatedly left him with too much ground to make up on Sundays.

Despite finishing fourth at the Hungarian Grand Prix and consistently showing strong pace over long runs, Martin has yet to qualify inside the top 10 since his comeback. The problem, as he explained at the Catalan Grand Prix, lies in the compromises being made in bike setup, where the Aprilia works well in race conditions but leaves him vulnerable over a single lap in qualifying.

Qualifying: The Achilles’ Heel of Martin’s Aprilia Transition

For a rider who built much of his success at Ducati on lightning-fast qualifying laps, Martin’s current difficulties represent a frustrating shift. Over his last four events, the Spaniard has been forced to fight from deep in the grid, including three consecutive Q1 eliminations.

Since returning from injuries at the Czech Grand Prix, his qualifying and race results have painted a clear picture:

• Czech GP: Qualified 12th → Finished 7th

• Austrian GP: Qualified 14th → DNF

• Hungarian GP: Qualified 16th → Finished 4th

• Catalan GP: Qualified 17th → Finished 10th

While the results show steady Sunday recovery rides, they also highlight how much energy, tire life, and race opportunity are lost when starting from the middle or back of the grid. Martin himself acknowledges that the problem is limiting his true potential.

“I am overriding the bike,” Martin explained in Barcelona. “Now we have to make a setting for qualifying and a setting for the race. The race setting is good, but with this setting I cannot push too much in braking [in qualifying], because then everything becomes difficult. So maybe I need to do something, rotate the bike, or give more stability in braking just for one lap, and then keep this bike for the race.”

Braking Strength — And Its Hidden Costs

One of the defining characteristics of Jorge Martin’s riding style has always been his fearless braking — something that has now become both his biggest weapon and, unexpectedly, a limitation on the Aprilia. In race trim, his aggressive braking allows him to make decisive overtakes and climb the order. However, that same characteristic is unbalancing the bike in other parts of the lap, particularly when grip levels are at their best during qualifying.

“I feel I’m very, very strong in braking with Aprilia,” he said. “Maybe too much. I can overtake riders, but I need a bit of speed [elsewhere]. There’s always a balance, a compromise. Now I have to lose a bit of braking, and gain in other parts. For sure, I’m super strong, I brake really late, but then I lose maybe in another corner, so I need to understand. Hopefully I don’t lose braking, but improve in [other areas and] be a bit more competitive.”

This balancing act — deciding how much braking performance to sacrifice in order to gain corner exit speed and traction — is central to Martin’s adaptation to the RS-GP. Ducati allowed him to attack aggressively under braking and still maintain grip for explosive acceleration. The Aprilia, however, demands more finesse, rewarding smooth transitions rather than sudden inputs.

Understanding the Aprilia RS-GP’s Sensitivities

In a detailed explanation, Martin elaborated on how his braking technique affects traction and throttle behavior on the Aprilia.

“So it seems like [with the] Aprilia, you can force the front,” Martin noted. “But then if you force too much, then you lose the [traction]. We don’t have a really good first touch of the throttle. We spin a lot, so if you brake too hard, then the first touch is too aggressive. So I need to brake hard, but releasing [the brakes] smoothly, and then a little bit of throttle.

If I do everything aggressively, like I used to do in the Ducati, then everything becomes really difficult. So the stability is now where we have to focus, and try to be smooth.”

This highlights the technical challenge not just for Martin but for Aprilia’s engineers as well. Balancing a bike’s behavior for both qualifying time attacks and long race stints often involves delicate trade-offs. Push too hard for a qualifying setup, and tire wear or rear-end stability may suffer in the race. Focus too much on race pace, and a poor grid slot can undo all that work by forcing a rider to burn tires and energy fighting through the pack.

The Road to Improvement — Misano Test in Focus

Martin is optimistic that the upcoming Misano test on September 15 will provide the breakthrough he and Aprilia need. With time attack performance now clearly the biggest missing piece, the test represents a crucial opportunity to close the gap between one-lap speed and race-day consistency.

“It is just an adaptation process,” he said. “The Misano test will be super important for me, to understand this. I will work a lot on time attack, because it is the point where we need to improve. As soon as I improve this, I can be fighting in all the races for top 5, top 6 and so on.”

For a reigning champion, the stakes are high. Every session without progress in qualifying increases the pressure, both internally and externally, as rivals capitalize on his compromised starting positions. Yet Martin’s resilience and analytical approach suggest he’s far from giving up the fight. His steady improvement on race day shows that the raw speed and confidence are there; what remains is finding the right way to unlock it when it matters most in qualifying.

Adapting the Champion’s Mindset

MotoGP has always been a game of margins. A few tenths of a second can separate the front row from the fourth row, and in a championship as competitive as the current era, even the best riders can look ordinary if they start too far back. Jorge Martin knows this, and his willingness to dissect both his riding and the bike’s behavior is a testament to why he became champion in the first place.

The adjustment from Ducati to Aprilia is not just about hardware; it’s about unlearning old habits and discovering new ways to exploit a different machine’s strengths. Some riders take longer than others to make such transitions work. Martin’s methodical approach, combined with his raw aggression and proven speed, indicates that when he solves this puzzle, he could again become a regular podium threat — perhaps even a title challenger in the not-too-distant future.

Looking Ahead

As MotoGP heads into the next phase of the season, all eyes will be on whether Martin can turn the corner in qualifying. His race craft remains among the best on the grid, his overtaking ability as sharp as ever, but consistent front-row starts are essential if he wants to return to winning ways.

The Misano test could prove to be a turning point, offering the data and confidence both he and Aprilia need to close the gap. If they succeed, the second half of the season might see Jorge Martin not just fighting for top fives, but once again battling for wins — a scenario that would add another fascinating layer to an already unpredictable MotoGP championship fight.

For now, Martin’s message is clear: he understands the problem, he has identified the areas of compromise, and he is ready to work on the solution. In the world’s most competitive motorcycle championship, that mindset is often the difference between staying stuck in the midfield and fighting at the front.