Jorge Martin admits he was in doubt about racing Qatar due to injury before painful comeback ride

Jorge Martin admitted he was in doubt about racing in Qatar as late as last Tuesday due to a fractured right wrist, but he completed the Grand Prix weekend, finishing third in the sprint and seventh in the main race. Martin, who missed the Malaysian Grand Prix after the Phillip Island crash, said he felt “a lot of pain” and struggled mentally in the final laps, but pushed on to keep his title hopes alive, now 60 points behind Marc Marquez.

Marquez finished second in Sunday’s main race, extending his advantage in the standings.

Martin’s 60-point deficit to Marquez means he must outscore the championship leader by at least 24 points at the season’s penultimate round in Portugal to carry the title fight to the Valencia finale, according to series records.

Martin said the physical toll of the race was significant, with the fractured right wrist he sustained in a crash during the Phillip Island sprint causing him constant pain throughout the 22-lap event.

“For sure, I feel a lot of pain on my wrist,” Martin said, according to Crash.Net. “I think it was more mental. After 12, 13 laps I started to feel like I was going to give up, in terms of pace, and relax a bit.”

The Aprilia rider said he found motivation to push through the final laps after seeing he was closing on Enea Bastianini and Pedro Acosta, who finished ahead of him in the race.

“I was just on the bike trying to do laps, just trying to finish the race,” Martin said.

Martin, who qualified 11th, said he believed a podium finish was possible had he started further up the grid. He finished third in Saturday’s sprint race before taking seventh in the main event.

“I did my absolute best during all of the weekend,” Martin said. “The bike was working well, but I wasn’t quite able to take the maximum out of it.”

Martin said he had doubted until last Tuesday whether he would travel to Qatar at all, given the severity of the injury. The crash at Phillip Island forced him to miss both races at the Malaysian Grand Prix, ending a streak of consecutive starts.

“I think we have to be proud of the job we did,” Martin said of his Qatar weekend.

Martin said his focus remains on finishing his final two races with Aprilia at full strength rather than on the championship standings.

“I don’t really care about the championship,” Martin said. “I just want to be on my 100% and enjoy these last two races with Aprilia, trying to make wins.”

He said he plans to continue the same treatment regimen for his wrist and believes remaining at home ahead of the Portugal round will aid his recovery.

“I hope to recover well physically, because I think that was the key this weekend,” Martin said.

The Portugal Grand Prix is scheduled for Nov. 22-24 at the Algarve International Circuit. The season finale will be held at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia on Nov. 30.