Jorge Martín’s victory at the French MotoGP was nothing short of heroic and titanic. Just over a year ago, in Qatar, during his debut with Aprilia, he crashed, was run over by Di Giannantonio on a curb, and had to be rushed to a hospital in Doha. There, he suffered like never before—despite his nickname “Martinator” for overcoming injuries. He even considered retirement. But he kept the faith, and this Sunday in France, he clinched his first Sunday race win with the Noale manufacturer, a team he once doubted he would stay with.
The Madrid native is made of iron. His victory was a testament to persistence. “It was much tougher than the Sprint. I never thought I would win, but I never gave up, I always believed,” he summed up.
Unlike the short race, Jorge did not have a blazing start in Le Mans. He stayed in seventh place, his grid position, and gradually made incredible overtakes, including a daring move on Acosta from far back through Turns 2-3.
He still had to overcome the toughest opponent: his teammate Bezzecchi, who had started brilliantly on Sunday and pulled away. Jorge caught him and pulled off the same move in the same spot as he did with Acosta. This time, however, it was against a bike identical to his own. He even had the cunning to shift into first gear to block a potential counterattack from ‘Bez’. Brutal.
Beating the rider from Rimini also put him just one point behind in the championship standings. Marco could only be thankful that Ogura was charging hard, nearly surpassing him. “I knew my pace wasn’t the best; I didn’t expect to be first. When I saw Jorge pass Acosta, I knew he was very strong. I didn’t want to risk anymore—I would have only lasted one more lap there. I was getting worse all weekend,” Bezzecchi conceded. Still, the Italian has three wins and two second places in the five Sunday races; only his modest Sprint results give the rest a chance.
The Japanese rider, Ogura, completed the first podium sweep in history for Aprilia. It was also his first podium in the premier class and the first for a Japanese rider since Nakasuga in Valencia 2012.
The party was in full swing in the Italian team’s garage, but none enjoyed it more than Martín. It was well-deserved given the terrible 2025 he endured. “I’m happy to be back at my best. I’m better than in 2024, when I was champion. In this sport, you have to improve. Everything I’ve been through has made me a better person, even the bad things. I am who I am today because of that,” he proclaimed. Today they call it resilience, but in his case, it’s raised to the highest power—or to seventh heaven.
What’s worrying for the rest is that he believes he hasn’t yet reached full confidence with the RS-GP. “Aprilia always helped me; the bike is fantastic. I’m very happy that Aprilia keeps growing; it’s incredible how fast they do it. On Friday I was struggling, and look now. This gives great morale for the future. I still don’t have everything dialed in with the bike; that will be the key going forward,” he indicated.
