MotoGP championship contender Jorge Martin may be targeting a sooner than expected return to race action after the Phillip Island injury that seemed to have ended his title shot.
Martin’s Aprilia team announced on Sunday morning that Martin will remain in Australia this week despite breaking his arm on Saturday during the sprint race.
That potentially opens the door for an attempted return at Sepang in one week’s time.
Initial reports from the team on Saturday afternoon suggested that Martin had broken both the radius and ulna in his right arm, but said that he would first travel to hospital in Melbourne (two hours away from the Phillip Island track) for further assessment.
That assessment turned out to be good news, with a suspected fracture of his ulna (the smaller bone in the lower arm) ruled out.
“Jorge Martin 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,” said Aprilia’s statement.
“Consequently, the rider will not be returning to Spain and will undergo the necessary treatment over the coming days.”
With MotoGP travelling directly from Australia to Malaysia for the next of its back-to-back races at Sepang, the news that Martin will not go back home but will instead remain in the region very much opens the door for an attempt to return next weekend.
His crash out of Saturday’s sprint and Marc Marquez’s subsequent victory has tipped the championship lead clearly in favour of the Ducati rider for the first time this year, turning Martin’s slender two-point lead into a 10-point breathing space for Marquez.
However, with heavy rain and reduced visibility throwing Sunday’s main event (and its potential 25 points) at Phillip Island into doubt, it could be a case of extenuating circumstances helping Martin limit the damage, making a prospective return at Sepang slightly more palatable.