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# Martin admits MotoGP title 'already lost' after Sepang withdrawal
- URL: https://www.the-race.com/motogp/martin-admits-motogp-title-already-lost-after-sepang-withdrawal/
- Published: 2026-10-31T04:27:01.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-31T04:27:09.000Z
- Description: Aprilia MotoGP rider Jorge Martin feels the 2026 title is "already lost" following his withdrawal from the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend - but intends to ride in Qatar next week
- Author: Valentin Khorounzhiy
- Tags: MotoGP, #jorge-martin, #aprilia, #image-top-center

Aprilia MotoGP rider Jorge Martin feels the 2026 title is "already lost" following his withdrawal from the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend - but intends to ride in Qatar next week.

Martin sustained a distal radius fracture in a crash during the Phillip Island sprint, but was back to riding just six days later at Sepang, in a desperate bid to keep himself in the championship picture and minimise the damage versus points leader Marc Marquez.

But Martin was forced to give up on his weekend after three sessions, withdrawing after Saturday morning practice.

"I tried, I tried my best, I tried to ride, but for sure the process of healing is still early," he explained afterwards. 

"The healing is going really fast, but not enough to be efficient on the bike. I felt that I could ride with almost no pain, but for maybe one lap. After that I started to have a lot of pain, I couldn't be constant, so watching a bit the laptimes and my performance, we decided to stop, to try to wait. 

"We thought together with the team that the effort I was doing was too much to continue and yeah, nothing to gain. It was just going to be very difficult even to score one point."

Martin said he just didn't have the requisite strength under braking - and made reference to his past efforts to shortcut recovery periods, particularly in an injury-laden 2025 and specifically in his return to racing in Qatar last year, in which he ran out of energy in the race, crashed and suffered a bad injury after being hit by a rival bike.

"It wasn't the best idea to continue," he said of this weekend, "because if I continue, it \[shows\] that I haven't learned anything from the past. 

"This happened to me in the past and I didn't want to crash or have a worse injury because of trying to race like this."

Asked by The Race how he views the championship picture in light of his withdrawal, Martin admitted: "I think now I don't have to think about the championship. Maybe I can win it, but for me it's already lost. 

"So for sure I will fight till the end, not only for me, because at the end of the day I'm already a champion \[in 2024\], but for my team, for my people, I will fight till the end, I will try again in Qatar. Otherwise I would stay at home and rest."

Martin trails Marquez by 10 points, with Marquez in position to triple or quadruple that lead at Sepang, having placed second in qualifying.

Though Martin will return to Spain right away, as referenced above he still intends to try and race in Qatar next weekend, assuming that round goes ahead.

"During this week the improvement was incredible. I was able to ride a MotoGP with a broken wrist, so it's crazy. And I was under two minutes \[in laptime\]! So I'm already proud of my performance.

"My target is to go to Qatar. I will go there and I will try. Then if my feeling is the same, then I will have to stop. But this we will see in Qatar."