Jorge Martin's former MotoGP title rival Pecco Bagnaia believes Martin should see out his two-year deal with Aprilia, amid reporting the reigning champion is evaluating his options to terminate the contract early.
Martin was announced last year to have signed a "multi-year" deal with Aprilia, but it came out during his current injury absence that his camp has talked to the manufacturer about potentially activating a contractual option that would let Martin walk free at the end of the year.
With the MotoGP paddock reconvening this Thursday ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone - and with Martin not in attendance as his injury recovery continues - Aprilia issued a statement saying the contract is "valid and effective" and "must be respected until its expiration [end of 2026] by both parties".
Ducati rider Bagnaia, who had very cordial title battles in 2023 (won by Bagnaia) and 2024 (won by Martin), commented rather firmly on the story later that same day.
"Like I was expecting, Aprilia just said that they will continue like they signed their contract," he said. "When you have a contract, you need to follow it. You cannot cancel it, I think, in my opinion.
"If you take the words about something and if you sign something, you must respect it. It could be a problem if someone starts to make this kind of chaos like this. Like it would start to be chaos.
"We are living in a period where a lot of speculation is done on social media and this is a big problem, I think. It's difficult also to understand the true things or the false things."
Confusingly, Bagnaia said that both Aprilia and Martin have made "the correct choice" - suggesting he believes Martin will remain with the Italian manufacturer next year.
"If you sign a contract, you must respect it. It's not correct to exit from it," he reiterated.
Asked whether it would change his outlook to learn that there is indeed a clause Martin can exercise to go free, Bagnaia said: "I've never had this kind of contract so I don't know. I always decided for my future, and I always wanted to respect it. It's true that in the past I had some moments that I wanted to maybe change - but it's not correct, no?"
So if a rider is unhappy in his current surroundings, Bagnaia said he believes it's up to them to "do your maximum to try to solve the problem" within the framework of their current employment.
"I think it's the correct thing. It's like a marriage. If you decide to go forward, you must do your maximum to make your life happy."
Ogura laughs off promotion prospects
Trackhouse Aprilia rookie sensation Ai Ogura has been floated as a logical fallback option for the factory Aprilia team in case Martin does end up heading elsewhere in 2026, through one mechanism or another.
But when asked about his candidacy to be Martin's replacement in such a scenario, Ogura sounded bemused.
"Me?" he said before breaking into laughter. "I don't think so.
"I'm maybe the wrong person to ask! I don't really care about that."
Asked by The Race whether he could seek an Aprilia factory promotion in the longer term, he said: "If it happened, I'm really happy. For now I'm really happy with Trackhouse."
Ogura is contracted to Trackhouse on a two-year deal, the team having switched to direct contracts with riders this year after having fielded riders on Aprilia contracts instead in its debut year in 2024.
