Martín cleared for Sepang FP1 despite broken wrist as Márquez leads by 10 points

Medical clearance

Jorge Martín (Aprilia) was declared fit to ride in the first practice session, FP1, of the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, after a medical check on Thursday, 29 October. He fractured the distal radius of his right wrist in the sprint at the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island, and the fracture was not displaced. The MotoGP medical team will examine him again straight after FP1, and he will decide after that whether to keep riding over the weekend. Martín told reporters he cannot brush his teeth with his right hand and can only do a little more than ride.

“I arrive with a broken arm, but I am here to fight, to try once more to go against the circumstances and try to ride.”

The title race

Marc Márquez (Ducati) leads the championship with 365 points, against 355 for Martín, a gap of 10 points. Márquez won the Australian sprint, and Martín's crash at turn eight on lap eight of that race handed Márquez the lead. The Sunday races in Australia were all cancelled because of bad weather, so the gap did not change. Márquez said he would take risks in the closing stretch of the season to measure himself against Aprilia's two factory riders.

“We are at a point in the championship where it is time to take risks, as I did in Australia.”

Marc Márquez365

Jorge Martín355

Marc Márquez

365 points

Jorge Martín

355 points

Data from the article text

Sepang track record

Sepang has not been kind to Márquez. He has two wins there, in 2014 and 2018, and three falls, in 2015, 2016 and 2024. Ducati riders have won the last four races at the circuit, with 'Pecco' Bagnaia winning in 2022 and 2024, Enea Bastianini in 2023 and Álex Márquez in 2025. This season Márquez has six grand prix wins and nine sprint wins, ahead of Marco Bezzecchi, who has five grand prix wins and no sprint wins. Márquez has said Sepang needs a different style of riding to set a lap time or to race, because tyre wear is huge there.

Martín's doubts

Martín said he is far from his best and that a 20-lap race is hard to picture right now, although he thinks it becomes more likely by Saturday. He does not expect to be as competitive as he was in Australia, and Sepang's right-hand corners will load the injured wrist directly. Aprilia's team said it was impossible to make definitive predictions at this stage.

“If I were not fighting for the title, I would be at home in a cast.”

What happens next

FP1 on Friday, 30 October, is the first real test of Martín's wrist at Sepang. The medical team will check him again straight after the session, and his decision on the rest of the weekend will follow from that check. Márquez arrives at the circuit leading the championship by 10 points.