Termination of the Martinator: How reigning champion Martín lost the opportunity of defending his title in 2025

MotoGP’s most consistent rider in 2024 Jorge Martín announced his departure from Pramac Racing halfway through the season, signing a multi-year contract with the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini. Personally, I believe this might have been the only right choice he could have made ahead of the 2025 season, even though Martín himself admitted it will probably cost him a shot at defending his reign as champion in the sport.

Before I explain myself as to why this choice is the best one for Martín, I will provide a bit of background to the topic. As you know by now, Martín is the reigning champion, and he won that championship on Ducati machinery last year. The Italian Ducati brand is the defining factor in motor racing, as it has been for the last three years. Their main team, Ducati Lenovo, was in talks with both Jorge Martín and six-time champion Marc Márquez last year as they were in search for a new driver to pair with double champion Francesco Bagnaia. Both Martín and Márquez were racing for teams that used the Ducati machinery too, a slight difference is that Márquez had the 2023 motorcycle at his disposal which was slightly slower than the 2024 model. In June, Martín announced his move to Aprilia, and two days later Márquez was announced as Ducati Lenovo rider for 2025. It was a bit of a strange announcement at the time, as many expected the championship leader to be in for the promotion to the Ducati team.

Jorge Martín testing his new Aprilia bike in Barcelona 2024, from motorsport.com

Why then, does it make sense to promote Marc Márquez over Jorge Martín? The answer to this question is quite simple, it is Marc Márquez! After winning his sixth title in 2019, Márquez was ruled out for over a season due to a crash at the start of the 2020 season. Throughout the past seasons, he has proven himself capable of winning again and especially his second half of the 2024 season was astonishing to watch, as he took three victories and secured third place in the championship on the third fastest motorcycle in the field. So, not only did Ducati get a legend on board, but they also secured an experienced driver who showed relentless speed in the past year.

Martín however, displayed astonishing consistency throughout his title charge. Francesco Bagnaia managed to win ten out of twenty races, as opposed to Martín’s three victories over the course of the season. But Martín scored sixteen podium finishes, and therefore managed to build a buffer in points during the bad races Bagnaia frequently had as well. So, did Martín deserve to be denied the chance of moving to the Ducati factory team? I would answer that with no. However, which team would not seize the opportunity to sign a six-time champion in great form?

So, with Ducati making the logical choice it was up to Martín to decide upon his future in the sport. Aprilia is by no means a front running team in Moto GP, but they have shown the capability of maximizing the chances they get, winning four races in their three years in MotoGP. What is most important for Martín, however, is the ability to ask for changes directly to a factory team, something he could not do with his 2024 Ducati challenger. Martín seems to keep his bike on track better than anyone, and his feedback to the Italian team is a prime source of information to further develop their bike into winning machinery. This is the exact way Martín envisioned the deal, starting a project that could see him back in a title fight in a couple of years from now. Therefore, making this move in my eyes is logical, daring, but mainly promising towards the future.