JORGE MARTIN SAYS HE LOST TIME TO BEZZECCHI IN “EVERY CORNER” AT MISANO

Jorge Martin admitted he was losing time to Marco Bezzecchi “in every corner” during Friday practice at Misano, after a difficult day that left him only 10th. The Pramac rider said he was right on the limit, yet the gap to the front was still there—while he just managed to squeeze into Q2 in 10th, Bezzecchi had already been over a tenth clear of the rest of the field in the early running. Martin’s frustration centred on how the bike behaved when he pushed hardest, particularly with the soft rear tyre, saying: “I was completely on the limit… I was struggling a lot with the soft [compound rear tyre].” He added that in time-attack mode he “suffer[s] a lot,” and that the issue was consistency “all the track, a little bit, a little bit.”

Martin also said he was “surprised” after comparing his data with Bezzecchi’s following practice at the 2026 San Marino Grand Prix. Bezzecchi topped the timesheets with a 1:30.144, while Martin’s best in the pre-qualifying session left him P10 with a 1:30.690—0.546s behind on the 4.23km Misano circuit. Martin felt he was doing “everything right” but still couldn’t close the gap, describing how the difference showed up despite his efforts across the 16 corners: “With Marco, I lose very little in all the corners. But if you look at the data, you’d be surprised. It seems like I’m doing everything right in every section, but then, at the end of the lap, I’ve lost four tenths. It’s a lot of details.”

Beyond tyre performance, Martin pointed to the need to keep learning the Aprilia. He said he “miss[es] continuing to learn the Aprilia,” noting that there are circuits where it doesn’t feel as natural, even though “the bike has changed a lot compared to last year.” He also revealed a change in approach since his injury troubles, admitting he now takes things “a bit safer,” especially during practice: “If everything’s clear in my mind and I’m feeling confident, I can aim for pole. Otherwise, I’d rather just finish the lap and focus on the race.”

Bezzecchi, meanwhile, said he wasn’t “worried” to see Martin so far down the order, and backed his Aprilia team-mates to bounce back on Saturday. While Bezzecchi came close to breaking the lap record in practice on the factory RS-GP, Martin had barely made the final Q2 spot in 10th after struggling for speed throughout the session.

The wider Friday picture underlined how close the midfield was behind Martin: Enea Bastianini was only 0.014s slower than Martin in P11, and Raul Fernandez was 0.026s behind him in P12.

Neil Hodgson added context to Martin’s situation, urging the Spaniard to treat the weekend as “damage limitation.” Hodgson said Martin may still be playing catch-up after missing pre-season at the start of the year and after everything that happened in 2025, arguing that the RS-GP was built around Bezzecchi as the expected championship contender. He also pointed to what he saw in Martin’s riding, saying the bike looked “nervous” in practice and that it appeared Martin was “overriding a bit.” Hodgson’s advice was to be patient and target results rather than immediate peak pace: “Two fifth-places will do. We will come to some tracks where the bike works for you.”

Martin arrived at Misano leading Marc Marquez by 19 points, with Bezzecchi third and 24 points behind.