Jorge Martín is back on a bike for the final Grand Prix of the MotoGP season in Valencia, Spain. The winner of the 2024 had a "shitty year", in his own words, after a near endless series of crashes that caused him serious injuries. His season started in July, after two accidents, but crashed again with Marco Bezzecchi in the Japanese GP and had a shoulder injury, returning just in time for the season finale.
In total, Martín has only appeared in eight of the 22 Grand Prix of the season. Nobody could blame him if he decided to miss this weekend's race, but "I wanted to put it behind me. I didn't want to stay at home until February. I've worked hard to be here this weekend. My goal is to start working towards 2026; for me, this is already a test."
Speaking to RTVE, Martín (who had previously gained the nickname "Martinator" precisely for his many injuries in his career) that "it has been a year of more learning, of thinking that neither the good moments are so good, nor the bad ones so bad, in the end you have to be a little more neutral and know that because of a year that has been a bump in my sporting career, it is not going to define what my whole career will be like later".
Martín says he feels good and mentally stronger than ever: "I could have stopped and waited until next year, until February, to start from scratch, but if there's one thing I've learned, it's that I love this sport more than I ever imagined, because after a year like this I could have simply not come to Valencia, waited, but if there's one thing I've realized, it's that I love this sport very much and that I want to race motorcycles for many more years."