Aprilia's post-British Grand Prix win afterglow has been dashed by Jorge Martin announcing that he believes he is free to walk away from the team at the end of the 2025 season - and intends to do so.
Martin has effectively missed all of the campaign so far, having due to a succession of injuries made just a single fruitless start in Aprilia colours.
A statement from Martin outlined that an option to terminate the two-year deal a year early "if certain circumstances were not met" was "an essential condition for me to accept the contract proposal they offered me at that time".
An official response from Aprilia is yet to follow, but it is now a matter of public record that its biggest-ever MotoGP signing, the rider who brought the #1 plate with him, does not want to remain part of the outfit next year.
Our team give their takes on the situation.
Silverstone win shouldn't change things
Valentin Khorounzhiy
I can't say it's a decision I particularly like or approve of - I don't think Aprilia deserves this at all - but one thing I do respect is staying the course regardless of Aprilia's Silverstone results.
The British GP win doesn't change very much at all and, while Martin's statement includes a lot of justification, only one justification is needed. Martin believes he is legally in the right to exercise an option granted to him at the original signing of the contract, "an essential condition for me to accept the contract proposal at that time", and feels it is in his best interests to exercise that.
That's enough for me. And the RS-GP - a good bike that was clearly undersold by its early-season form - winning at a traditionally Aprilia-friendly track, as a consequence of a Yamaha M1 failing four seconds in front of it, shouldn't change it.
The Aprilia is a good bike. It's exactly as good as Martin should've expected it to be when he signed. So if that's suddenly not good enough, that's the fault and the mistake of the Martin who signed the deal in the first place.
But this Martin clearly sees a better alternative, presumably in Honda, which won't win next year but makes all the sense in the world as a horse to bet on for the new-for-2027 regulations. I can't necessarily fault that.
This hurts everyone involved
Matt Beer
I suspect Aprilia's about to contest Martin's interpretation of his contract, and I simultaneously understand slightly where he's coming from in terms of prioritising his long-term interests amid what has to feel like a career-threatening avalanche of injuries and think the handling of it doesn't reflect well at all on the Martin camp.
But above all that I'm just gutted that we're not going to see the Martin/Aprilia story that we should, and I still think medium-term they're each other's best option.
A load of Johann Zarco underdog brilliance while the works riders are still all over the place doesn't give me anywhere near as much confidence that Honda's getting itself back on track as I have in Yamaha - where Fabio Quartararo is still a big step ahead of what Zarco's achieving in normal conditions most of the time, and where Jack Miller (the only other Yamaha rider not compromised by injury either recently or long term) is underlining the progress Quartararo is proving.
Which is not to say I think Martin should be walking out of Aprilia in favour of trying to unseat Alex Rins - more that I still think Aprilia would be a better 2026 bet than Honda and I don't think a 2027 rules Honda transformation is a surefire bet.
As Marco Bezzecchi just proved, that Aprilia can be a very, very, very good bike. It deserves a rider who could show its full potential every weekend. Martin is/was one of those riders and there aren't actually that many of them on the grid.
A baffling decision
Megan White
This situation doesn't end well for anyone. Martin looks bad for trying to get out of his deal, and Aprilia either loses its world champion rider and big hope for the future, or forces a rider to stay because of his contract and makes him unhappy.
The important thing to remember here is that Martin is stating his intention to leave. That doesn't mean he legally can.
Regardless, I'm still pretty baffled by this decision, and especially so just days after a Silverstone weekend where Aprilia showed great promise.
Not only did Bezzecchi win on Sunday, but he also had great pace on Saturday. Off track, factory boss Massimo Rivola took time to emphasise how welcome Martin would be, and how "Aprilia is ready to win with [Martin]”. So for Martin to stick to his guns - fair enough, that's admirable - and insist he still wants to leave for 2026 just feels like a strange decision.
So, if - and it's a big if at this point - this does end up being the end of Martin's journey with Aprilia, it's a real shame, especially given all the work which went into that deal behind the scenes from both Rivola and Martin's good friend Aleix Espargaro.
If it is Honda where he ends up, that bike is still flawed. Joan Mir and Luca Marini both complained of its chatter over the weekend, and Zarco's French GP victory, while a very good one, came in mixed conditions. It also begs the question: If Martin was so confident in Honda making steps, why didn't he go there at the end of 2024? There aren't many other options for next year, either.
Martin knew when he signed that contract that the Aprilia wouldn't be fighting for the title this year. But by leaving prematurely rather than sticking it out to see where 2026 goes, it’s a sad case of what could have been - for both parties.
Martin needs to think two steps ahead
Oliver Card
Fortune favours the bold and they don't come any bolder than Martin, who made an abrupt (and I would still maintain correct) decision in 2024 to leave the Ducati framework to define himself elsewhere.
However, it is misfortune that has defined the world champion's 2025 season.
While not being able to offer the same level of performance as Ducati, Aprilia has by all appearances been highly hospitable with its injured star signing, despite what must feel like the bitter disappointment of not being able to exploit his undeniable talents and commercial appeal.
Coming off the back of a brilliant British GP, this should have reassured Martin that Aprilia is where he belongs; imagine what he could do in that scenario. Only those truly closest to Martin will have an inkling as to his headspace, but potentially the broken champion only saw the downhill fall on the other side of this spectacular peak.
Contrast Marc Marquez's approach to exiting his lucrative Honda contract. It was a multi-year strategy with the Ducati factory team his end goal. Get to Gresini Racing on an older-spec Ducati, show your performance-ceiling-busting skills are still valid, and make it impossible for Ducati to resist. It was machiavellian, but never felt sinister.
Martin, who must be on the verge of thinking the #1 plate carries a curse, needs to start thinking two steps ahead instead of one. Aprilia is looking like a messy divorce during what should be the honeymoon period and the resulting mishandling of messaging and badly sown seeds could damage his appeal as a rider for other manufacturers.
There shouldn't be any blame here
Jack Benyon
This is only a big deal because we're talking about an elite sports environment.
Ultimately, Jorge Martin has decided he doesn't want to work for an employer anymore. Whether it's the prospects for future success, general happiness in the workplace, or complications from a very serious injury recovery, these are all problems everyday people face in 'normal' life.
If Martin was working in a shop, no one would begrudge this decision, providing he has not breached his contract.
Back in the context of MotoGP, this is a problem because Ducati couldn't offer Martin a factory ride, despite the fact that Martin, on a satellite ride, beat the incumbent on said factory bike to a championship in almost unprecedented circumstances.
In my opinion, he had no choice but to leave Ducati, and if he's decided he can't continue where he is, that's not his fault and Aprilia knew this clause existed when it signed him (assuming it is going to accept Martin's interpretation of it).
It must have occurred to the team that through this clause, Martin could end up on another bike in 2026.
Therefore, it could have taken the decision to build around another rider on a longer deal without this clause. But it didn't. And now he's leaving, it's back to square one.
It seems to me there should be no blame here. Martin took a gamble that hasn't paid off for him. Aprilia has done exactly the same.
I think he's better off at Aprilia than Honda, but there's a long way to go before the 2026 grid is decided - and who knows what will happen before then.
