Jorge Martin has admitted that missing last year's Indonesian Grand Prix left him at a disadvantage against his Aprilia rivals at Mandalika, where he struggled to match the pace of Marco Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez.
Despite Aprilia securing all four top positions in Sunday's race, Martin finished as the manufacturer's third-best rider, crossing the line 6.9 seconds behind race winner Bezzecchi. The Spaniard's weekend was further complicated by a front tyre-pressure issue during Saturday's sprint and a late mistake that cost him a chance to fight for victory.
Martin explained that his biggest weakness was losing time through two fast corners, where Bezzecchi and Fernandez were able to carry more speed while maintaining better control of their motorcycles.
"They were able to put more speed with less spin, and I was spinning like crazy," Martin explained.
"There were two corners where I couldn't match the speed. I was trying to analyse how they were doing it, but I was losing one tenth in each."
The 2024 world champion said he attempted to recover the lost time in other sections of the circuit where he felt more comfortable. However, every time he tried to match his rivals, they appeared to find another improvement.
Although Martin made considerable progress throughout the weekend, he believes the lack of track experience on his Aprilia RS-GP ultimately limited his performance.
The Spaniard missed the 2025 Indonesian Grand Prix through injury, meaning Mandalika was his first opportunity to race an Aprilia at the circuit. His rivals, meanwhile, had already spent a full race weekend learning how to extract the best performance from the motorcycle there.
"Maybe last season the others already did the step, and this season I was trying to match them," he said.
Martin acknowledged that he had sometimes struggled to match his rivals after missing a race the previous year, although this has not been a consistent problem at every circuit.
"Sometimes I feel a bit that if I don't race the year before, I struggle to match their speed, but other times I don't suffer," he added.
"This one was like this. I didn't take that extra from the Aprilia when the performance was super good."
Source: Webike Japan
The issue could become significant as the championship moves to Australia for this weekend's Grand Prix at Phillip Island. Martin faces another circuit where he has limited experience on the Aprilia, having also missed last year's event because of injury.
The same concern applies to the Portuguese Grand Prix later in the season. Martin has had limited running at Sepang on the Aprilia as well, while injuries disrupted his participation in the Qatar and Valencia rounds last year.
His championship rival Marc Marquez also missed the closing rounds of the 2025 season through injury. However, the Ducati rider has previous experience on his current motorcycle at the remaining circuits, giving him a reference point that Martin does not always have.
Despite his difficulties in Indonesia, Martin managed to leave Mandalika with his two-point championship advantage over Marquez intact. However, with the title fight entering its decisive stage, he will need to find a way to close the performance gap to his Aprilia team-mates.
April ia's strength across its four riders remains a major advantage, as Bezzecchi and Trackhouse competitors Fernandez and Ai Ogura have all demonstrated the RS-GP's potential to fight at the front.
For Martin, the immediate challenge is to understand how his rivals are extracting more speed from the motorcycle and apply those lessons before the next race. With Phillip Island offering another unfamiliar test, his ability to adapt quickly could prove crucial to maintaining his championship lead.
