MARTIN SAYS DUCATI HABITS LEFT HIM SLOWEST APRILIA IN PHILLIP ISLAND PRACTICE

Jorge Martin ended Friday’s Australian Grand Prix practice as the slowest of Aprilia’s riders, but said his position reflected an ongoing adjustment to the bike rather than a lack of pace. At Phillip Island, he is still relying on instincts developed during his Ducati years—and the circuit’s fast, flowing corners make the difference in riding style especially clear.

The 2024 world champion had been highly successful at the track on a Ducati, taking three pole positions from 2022 to 2024. But he missed last year’s race through injury, so this is his first visit to Phillip Island on an Aprilia, leaving him with less circuit-specific data than his team-mates. Martin said that absence had affected his performance: “I'm used to riding with the Ducati here.”

Aprilia set the pace on Friday, with Marco Bezzecchi fastest and Raul Fernandez second. Martin was fifth, 0.255 seconds off the top time, and the slowest of the team’s riders.

Martin said he was carrying too much speed into corners and then struggling to get back on the throttle promptly. “It’s a problem I had before and still have,” he explained. “I try to enter [the corners] very fast and then I’m a bit late with [picking up] the throttle.”

That habit is particularly costly at Phillip Island, where strong corner exits are crucial. “Here the problem seems more significant; it’s more noticeable, because you need a lot of speed coming out of the corners,” Martin said. He has begun braking and turning in more cautiously, a change that he said was helping him on corner exit.

His previous approach was also taking a toll on the front tyre. “I was trying to push hard entering the corners, but I was destroying the front tyres, so I had to readjust my style a bit,” he said. After making changes, he felt “much better, much more balanced” in the afternoon session.

Despite finishing fifth among the Aprilias, Martin was encouraged by his lap time. He said he believed he had set a personal best at the circuit and was pleased with his progress, while acknowledging that he still needed to adapt to Aprilia’s way of riding. “I definitely needed to adapt to the Aprilia’s style because I couldn’t be here last year,” he said.

Martin was also behind title rival Marc Marquez, who finished Friday practice third-fastest. The pair arrived at the weekend separated by just two points. If the sprint result mirrored Friday’s practice order, they would be level heading into Sunday’s grand prix.