Martin to leave Aprilia? The big questions answered

The world of MotoGP has had its annual silly season bombshell, with the news that reigning champion Jorge Martin is angling to depart Aprilia at the halfway point of his two-year contract.

MotoGP's two-year contract cycles should've considerably cooled the rider market for 2026, with only a handful of rides and riders 'officially' available, but it would be thrown into chaos if Martin follows through with his mooted intention of a break with Aprilia.

Motorsport.com has reported there is a clause in Martin's deal that could allow for such a break - and that Martin has already informed Aprilia of his interest in making a split happen.

How is this possible?

Though MotoGP factories tend to officially operate in strict two-year contracts when it comes to their rider line-ups, those contracts are in actuality often laden with options - either team-side or rider-side or requiring both parties' consent - that can shorten or lengthen them.

In fact, Martin himself is already a precedent for how a contract option can influence the premier-class grid. His initial arrival to MotoGP as a Pramac Ducati rider was reportedly made possible by Martin making use of a unique option in his KTM contract at the time.

KTM employed him as a Moto2 rider but had the contractual ability and intention to bring him over to MotoGP for 2021. But a termination clause reportedly existed tied into the lead KTM's 2020 championship position in MotoGP at a certain point in the year - and, because of COVID delaying the season, it was that option that allowed Martin (whose affairs were overseen by well-known rider manager Albert Valera then, and still are now) to sign with Ducati instead.

According to Motorsport.com, a similar situation is playing out here. Martin's own championship position is the metric tied to the option, but his injury-ravaged start to 2025 means his actual competitive level - much like the KTM RC16 bike's in 2020 before the season started - is a total mystery.

Martin got injured in pre-season testing, suffered a worse injury that necessitated a multi-race absence while training ahead of the season opener, then sustained a worse injury still - 11 rib fractures and a hemopneumothorax - after crashing in his first grand prix back in Qatar.

So why would he want to leave?

Chances are good that Martin has had his head turned by the recent progress of one or more of Aprilia's rival manufacturers, while Aprilia itself has largely spluttered at the start of the year.

Martin's absence has been a big factor in that, as the new-for-2025 Aprilia RS-GP looked very credible in the hands of Marco Bezzecchi in the pre-season and rookie Ai Ogura in the Thailand opener.

But while Aprilia remains convinced that the new RS-GP is a genuine step forward compared to its predecessor from 2024, Bezzecchi has looked totally hamstrung in his ability to deliver meaningful results by the bike's instability on corner entry and exit.

"Of course it's tough to be alone in the team - I'm not alone because I have Sava [test rider Lorenzo Savadori], of course, but his job is different compared to what Jorge should do," Bezzecchi said at Le Mans of the impact of Martin's absence on his own start to 2025.

"For me it's more a lack of… having Jorge could be very nice for me, having him as a target, trying to take him as a reference, trying to beat him, being pushed by him. And I hope the same for him with me. And also we are developing the bike, I have to try many things alone - but at the end it's like this. So the only thing I can do is push and push."

It is notable that Aprilia this year operates under new technical leadership compared to last year. When Martin signed his Aprilia deal - though it is not known how much he will have known about the 2025 structure - Romano Albesiano was still its tech leader. But Albesiano left at the end of the year to join Honda, replaced by Fabiano Sterlacchini, who had previously departed KTM.

Where would Martin go instead?

There is only one natural destination for Martin on the MotoGP grid right now - and maybe another one that could make sense if he can accept another year in satellite colours.

Martin left Pramac and the Ducati camp because he felt wronged in missing out on a factory promotion. But Pramac is now one of the few teams on the grid that formally has a 2026 seat open (with Jack Miller on a one-year-deal only), and it could make sense for Martin to slot in for '26 before a step into the factory Yamaha team that would have to be already contractually-guaranteed at the moment of initial signing.

However, Honda - which has Luca Marini out of contract at the end of the year (along with LCR's Johann Zarco) - can offer him a works seat right now.

Both the Yamaha M1 and the Honda RC213V have shown considerable progress this season, though both remain well short of consistently matching the level at which even the 2024-spec Ducati Desmosedici operates.

But while Yamaha had held a known interest in Martin in the past, it is Honda where he could - in theory - seamlessly slot in as the new 'franchise' rider.

And for whatever progress Honda can make between now and the end of 2026, it may well be its capacity to start strong in 2027, under the new regulations (850cc engines, reduced aero, no ride-height devices) and with new Pirelli tyres, that is a bigger consideration for Martin.

What would Aprilia do?

Martin's departure would obviously be a hammer blow to Aprilia, which had only just now manoeuvred itself into a position to attract a rider of his calibre.

There is no A-list replacement it can obviously turn to, whether you think about it contractually for 2026 or just in terms of the wider rider landscape.

Martin's departure would obviously make Bezzecchi indispensable, and there's almost certainly a conversation to be had with satellite team Trackhouse and its boss Davide Brivio on whether Trackhouse would accept giving Ogura - who is contracted to Trackhouse on a two-year deal - to the factory team early.

While that would hurt Trackhouse's competitiveness, there has been chatter in MotoGP circles about Trackhouse having an interest in Brazilian Moto2 rider Diogo Moreira - both a credible option and a commercially-attractive one for the team and for MotoGP.

Aprilia's other options to replace Martin would be riders like Marini and Miller, who are most at threat of losing the current rider market game of musical chairs, while it would also be wise to monitor the situation at KTM, with that programme's future unclear due to the company's well-documented financial strife.

Could they race on together?

Motorsport.com reports Martin would be amenable to giving Aprilia more time in this season for a truer evaluation of its RS-GP - which could defuse the situation, but presumably not heal it outright.

Only a select few will know whether continuing in 2026 would be acceptable, but from the outside it is difficult to imagine a meaningful future for the Martin/Aprilia combination.

Success heals all wounds, time does, too, but Martin's move to sever ties can only be reflective of a lack of faith - and Aprilia will only feel deeply slighted by that, especially as it will surely believe it's only in this situation because of the injuries to its lead rider.