Jorge Martin planning MotoGP return at Malaysian GP

Jorge Martin is planning to return to MotoGP action at next weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix after a crash ruled him out of Sunday’s contest in Australia.

The Aprilia rider crashed on lap eight of the Phillip Island sprint while engaged in a fierce battle for the lead with title rival Marc Marquez.

Martin slid across the gravel in the fall and suffered a fracture to the radius in his right arm, immediately ruling him out of Sunday’s race.

Marquez’s victory allowed the reigning world champion to reclaim the lead in the standings, where he now holds a 10-point advantage over the 2024 world champion.

With Sunday’s race still to come, Martin faces an uphill struggle to keep up with the Ducati star, although he will do everything within his power to try.

Immediately after leaving the circuit on Saturday, the Spaniard travelled to Melbourne for further imaging tests, which confirmed that the fracture in his arm is non-displaced.

Jorge Martin, Aprilia leads Marc Marquez, Ducati

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

This means that, for now, he can avoid surgery and leaves the door open for him to travel to Malaysia next week, where the doctors will assess whether he is fit to race.

Initially, there were concerns that the tumbles he took across the gravel might have caused a fracture to the ulna in the same arm, in addition to the one to his radius.

However, a CT scan carried out later that afternoon ruled this out.

A statement read: “Jorge Martín underwent a CT scan to assess his condition following yesterday’s injury. The only confirmed injury is a non-displaced fracture of the distal radius. As a result, the rider will not return to Spain and will undergo the necessary treatment over the coming days.”

Over the next few days, Martin is expected to focus on physiotherapy treatment. The agency representing both him and Pedro Acosta travels with a physiotherapist, and the treatment will focus particularly on magnetotherapy to accelerate the healing of the fractured bone.

Regardless of whether the championship doctors clear Martin to race at Sepang, he would almost certainly be in a visibly compromised physical condition, severely hampered by the injury to his arm at one of the most physically demanding circuits on the calendar.

MotoGPMotoGP Australian GP: Marc Marquez wins sprint to seize points lead, Jorge Martin crashes

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