That world championship fight took a brutal twist on Saturday at Phillip Island, as Motorsport.com reports. Jorge Martin now has a minuscule window of four days to treat a fracture to his right radius before he attempts to get back on his Aprilia RS-GP on Friday at Sepang.
Things looked bleak when Martin tumbled through the gravel during an explosive sprint race duel with Marc Marquez that lasted eight and a half laps. Initially, circuit doctors feared he had also broken his ulna in the same right arm, and many assumed his title aspirations had ended right there at Turn 8. But a couple of massive breaks changed the landscape within hours. A CT scan in Melbourne on Saturday night ruled out the ulna fracture and confirmed the radius break was non-displaced, meaning no trip back to Spain for surgery.
We'll have to take it day by day and see how Jorge feels as the hours and days go by. We're supporting him, but we know these situations are extremely complicated,
Then the weather gods stepped in. Terrible conditions forced the cancellation of the main race at Phillip Island, sparing Martin a larger points deficit since he would have been declared unfit to race anyway. As it stands following his sprint victory, Marc Marquez leads Martin by 10 points, with Marco Bezzecchi sitting third at 50 points back. That lucky escape has supercharged the 2024 world champion's determination to tackle the brutal heat and humidity in Malaysia next weekend.
Right now, a strict recovery protocol is already underway, devised by Aitor Tomas, the physiotherapist employed by Playmaker, the agency representing both Martin and Pedro Acosta. Martin caught a flight out of Melbourne early Sunday into Monday and landed in Kuala Lumpur, where a trusted local physiotherapist is following Tomas's instructions until Tomas arrives on Tuesday.
"What we'll do is divide the process into two phases. The first will focus on reducing the swelling and addressing everything associated with the bone injury. The aim will be to restore mobility, strength and functionality. We'll achieve that through cryotherapy (ice) and manual therapy," Tomas outlined. "At the same time, we'll try to promote bone regeneration as much as possible, so that it can gradually strengthen. We'll do that using magnetotherapy systems."
If the championship's medical team, led by Dr Angel Charte, clears him on Thursday afternoon after an assessment at the circuit, a different routine begins. "If he is then cleared to get back on the bike, we'll apply a different protocol from the one we normally use with him. In that case, we'll concentrate on the wrist, trying to minimise the swelling as much as possible, alongside pain-management therapy," Tomas explained. Decisions on painkilling injections will wait until he tests the wrist on the machine, while Alpinestars is modifying his right glove to keep the fastening from digging in.
Aprilia wants their rider on the grid, but the Noale-based manufacturer is preaching patience given the heavy loads a right wrist takes on a MotoGP beast—controlling the throttle, grabbing the front brake, and bracing against heavy G-forces under braking and acceleration. "We'll have to take it day by day and see how Jorge feels as the hours and days go by. We're supporting him, but we know these situations are extremely complicated," a team spokesperson stated. "Nobody needs to tell him what is at stake, because he knows perfectly well. That's why we're not putting any pressure on him whatsoever. Whatever he decides will be the right decision for us. In situations like this, health comes first."
