MotoGP, Valencia Day 3, Jorge Martín (Aprilia/Ab.) retired following a team decision: "They knew I would have stopped."

Jorge Martín returned to his pit box 11 laps before the finish, recalled by his team who made the decision "as a precautionary measure".

Jorge Martín He made his long-awaited return this weekend in Valencia, but with great caution. After missing almost three-quarters of the season, the Spanish rider didn't want to take any risks on the track. The main objective was to regain his feel for the bike, which he is still relatively unfamiliar with, in preparation for the 2026 season, with the first test taking place on Tuesday.

Penalized for his maneuver at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix, which had caused his broken collarbone and kept him out of racing again, he also had to complete two long laps during today's race and it was important for him to get rid of them so that the penalty would not be deferred to next year.

So this Sunday, the watchword is Martín Caution was key. From the first corner, he deliberately ran wide to let the other drivers pass and run his own race behind them. He then completed his two long stints and drove for 16 laps before finally returning to the pits at the request of his team.

“In these kinds of situations, it’s always difficult to decide because there’s a strategy, but you never know what can happen in a race. At the start, I went wide because it didn’t make sense for me to stay in the middle of the pack, especially considering what happened between Zarco and Bagnaia. I did the two long periods of my penalty, and the team knew I would have stopped. After this weekend, I was very tired and aware of the pain. It didn’t make sense to continue. I was in pain, and I couldn’t afford to crash, so I didn’t take any risks because that would have been a big problem.”, he explained.

“The team told me to come in, I said goodbye to my fan club and I stopped. It’s a shame because Valencia is the last race, I’ve always liked to finish strong on this track since I’ve always been competitive, but this time it went the way it did. I’m sorry, but only six weeks have passed since my injury and currently I’ve exceeded my expectations. In three days I’ve done more than 100 laps. The important thing is to test the equipment for Tuesday.”

Results Grand Prix Valencia MotoGP 2025 :

Classification credit: MotoGP.com