Jorge Martin Has Successful Surgery On Right Hand As Aprilia Reignite Michelin Row

Jorge Martin has successfully undergone surgery on the right hand he injured on the first day of the Sepang test. At the Dexeus Clinic in Barcelona, surgeons inserted a screw into the fifth metacarpal bone in his right hand, the long bone in the hand supporting the little or pinky finger. The fractured metatarsals in his foot did not require surgery, and are expected to recover of their own accord.

It is too early to assess how quickly Martin can return, the Dexeus Clinic stating that the functional recovery will begin soon. Aprilia announced later on Saturday that he will skip the Buriram test on February 12th and 13th in order to focus on being fit for the opening round of the 2025 MotoGP season at Buriram on the weekend of March 2nd.

Noteworthy in the press release is that Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola has returned to the cause of Martin's crash. Martin had a vicious highside at the start of his third run, using the medium rear tire. On Wednesday evening, Rivola told the press that there was nothing wrong with the bike, the rider did nothing wrong, and that the tire was up to pressure and up to temperature.

On Friday, Michelin MotoGP boss Piero Taramasso told two groups of journalists that though the external tire temperature was good (measured using sensors on the inside of the rear fender), the internal tire temperature (measured using the infrared sensors integrated into the tire pressure sensors) was 15 °C lower on the left side of the tire compared to the data from Marco Bezzecchi, using the same tire at the same place.

In the press release, Rivola states that "our data in no way confirm the statements made by Piero Taramasso". That is an interesting choice of words. He does not state that their data contradicts the statements made by Taramasso, or that Taramasso's statement gave incorrect data. Merely that Aprilia's data did not confirm the statements given by Taramasso.

Using the medium tire on the first run in the morning, when temperatures were unusually low (for Sepang, that is, with track temperatures of 31 °C) instead of the 50+ °C you would expect to see, is a risky choice. Other teams and riders tried to avoid the medium rear, as it would only really start to work in very high temperatures.

The press release from Aprilia appears below:

Jorge Martín: successful surgery on his right hand

Surgery on Jorge Martin's right hand has been successfully completed. The medical team at the Quirón Dexeus Clinic in Barcelona, led by Dr Xavier Mir, confirmed the positive outcome of the operation.

The Spanish rider, following a heavy high-side on the first day of testing in Sepang, had suffered a closed fracture of the 5th metacarpal head of the right hand and a closed fracture of the 3rd, 4th and 5th metatarsals of the left foot. After spending a night at the Aurelius Hospital in Nilai, Jorge Martín returned to Europe to undergo surgery at Quirón Dexeus Clinic on Friday morning.

The fractures of the left foot didn’t need any surgery, recovery times will be assessed in the coming days.

XAVIER MIR, PhD MD RAMC

“The rider Jorge Martín has undergone surgery for a displaced fracture of the head of the right fifth metacarpal, with reduction and percutaneous fixation using an intramedullary screw. The functional recovery will start in a short time period, according to the clinical status”.

MASSIMO RIVOLA, CEO APRILIA RACING

“I'm glad that Jorge's operation went well and now we hope for a speedy recovery, his health is the priority. Regarding the crash, I would like to make it clear that our data in no way confirm the statements made by Piero Taramasso. I believe that the riders' safety should be the priority, and I have already suggested him to set a meeting with all the teams in order to deal constructively with what is clearly a critical situation, as evidenced by the number of injuries”.