Why the Martin test request should prompt a rule change

In the grand scheme of everything going on in the world right now, the question of whether to allow the injured Jorge Martin to try out his MotoGP Aprilia before attempting to race it is a strikingly piffling issue.

But sport – and motorsport in particular – can be a funny little bubble in which piffling things can get out of hand. Letting Martin do a day’s private running in a championship governed by strict testing restrictions would require changing the rules. A change that would, at this point in time, benefit nobody but Martin. 

Granting permission to Martin would require all the teams to agree to Aprilia’s request. And this, unfortunately, is ripe ground for the what-aboutism, schadenfreude and cries of double standards that infect motorsport paddock life. Not to mention the reduction of every issue to a question of competitive advantage.

It comes as no surprise that at least one influential individual has taken exception to the idea of changing the rules in the middle of the season for the immediate benefit of the reigning world champion. That somebody is Ducati’s team manager Davide Tardozzi – even if his bosses have officially distanced themselves from his stance at this point in time.

It’s possible that other teams share Tardozzi’s view. But since one dissenting vote would be enough to block a mid-season rule change, they don’t actually need to speak up if Ducati does. It’s revealing to note that riders Marc Marquez and Jack Miller, although not decision-makers in this matter, take a similar line to Tardozzi on this issue.

“This is MotoGP and the rules have been like this for an extremely long time,” said Miller in Argentina, displaying that familiar paddock aversion to double standards. “You look back to when Valentino broke his leg [in 2022] and so on. Marc, for example, missed nearly a whole season, and could only do the tests that were given to him. That’s the way it goes! We have superbikes and different areas [where returning riders can test fitness] – the rules are the rules.”

You could certainly read a little competitive schadenfreude into Miller’s closing words: “It’s unfortunate for them but those are the cards they were dealt this year.”

Marquez echoed some of Miller’s comments, which refer to the six-time world champion’s series of injury layoffs following his 2020 Jerez crash.

“[Allowing such tests] can be a good rule, but for the future,” said Marquez. “Right now, it’s not the rule. When I came back from my injury, the rule was not there.”

While Marquez represents the inevitable ‘nobody did me a favour’ side of the argument, Tardozzi is supposedly more worried about the data and track time advantage that the day’s testing would give to a ‘title rival’. Again, that’s just a matter of principle – he knows as well as anybody that Martin will not be a threat this year. Just like Marquez, he actually thinks the rule change would be a good idea!

“We could have a rule that a rider who is out of competition for two months is allowed to do a one-day test. Two days is too much” Marc Marquez

That’s motorsport for you. Certain (very smart) people agree that allowing injured riders a test on race equipment would amount to changing the rules for the better. Those people are very aware of the bigger picture on every level, including history and the future of the sport. They also know that every rule must, to state the obvious, come into effect at some point in time. But they’ll nonetheless be damned if Jorge Martin gets special treatment in the spring of 2025! That trumps everything!

Again, it should be pointed out that Martin has moved from Ducati to a less competitive machine and will be missing at least three rounds of the season before his return. Even then, he may be riding in pain and lack his usual performance. We’re not talking about a test that’s going to influence any world championship outcomes here. It’s already clear the number one plate will be somewhere else in 2026.

Rightly or wrongly, this debate may rumble for the next couple of weeks. It might only be resolved one way or the other when the teams meet on the Thursday before the Americas GP. The conversation will be entirely powered by the personal interests and thought patterns mentioned above.

So let’s leave the charged Martin case aside and think about whether it really would be a good idea to let injured riders – whoever they may be – test their fitness aboard their own MotoGP bikes. Even if that rule only comes in next year.

Rival teams are concerned by the benefits manufacturers could gain from the fitness testing

Photo by: Yamaha MotoGP

As Miller pointed out, there has always been the option to test some other kind of machinery. Sure, nothing can compare to the physicality of a MotoGP bike, but you could argue that a man already familiar with a MotoGP bike should be able to extrapolate how realistic it would be to ride one at his current level of fitness.

But why get into theorising and extrapolation when you could simply ride the real thing? Jealous rivals, that’s why. Testing is a rare and tightly controlled commodity in MotoGP, and every minute out on track helps. There would always be cynical competitors claiming that the ‘injured’ rider is already fully fit and using the rule to sneak in a valuable private test.

But if that rider has already missed a day’s worth of track action at the race weekends, then so what? At the risk of over-simplifying, missing four weekends amounts to five hours of free practice track time. That’s not even counting sessions against the clock or the races. All things considered, wouldn’t a day’s testing simply make up for what the rider has missed?

Marquez seems to be on board with that principle: “We could have a rule like… a rider who is out of competition for two months is allowed to do a one-day test. Two days is too much. A one-day test is enough to get the rhythm of the bike.”

An inevitable objection will be, while that system might be a fair exchange for the rider, the team itself will still be getting the best of both worlds if it took part in the race weekends using a substitute rider. It would still be getting extra data – call the cops! But that’s probably a good moment to fix the objector with a withering look, sigh and say “really?”   

When arguments get down to that level, after all, maybe it’s better to just accept that you can’t engineer perfect fairness and get on with what you need to be doing.

Seriously, if there’s been an injury and the team had to find a substitute, then give it a break. It already has the disruption of losing its chosen rider to deal with. (And no, nobody’s going to fake highsides and broken legs just so they can get an extra day’s testing.)

Miller has been unsurprisingly outspoken on the issue of injured riders testing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola, although he is admittedly invested in the Martin matter, made a good point in favour of the proposed rule change: it’s better for the show if riders don’t have to figure out their fitness on the Friday of a race weekend.

“Let’s say Jorge tries Free Practice 1 and doesn’t feel good,” said Rivola. “Then we have one bike less for the whole weekend – again.”

That scenario robs not only paying spectators but also denies a possible replacement rider an opportunity. It’s also a waste of a plane ticket!

It’s not hard to imagine what Aprilia might say about a test if Marc Marquez happens to get injured and miss races later on in 2025

To sum up, great MotoGP minds like Tardozzi and Marquez are correct when they say such a rule would make sense. The case against it is really pretty flimsy.

They will nonetheless hawkishly insist on the change coming in with a clean slate and no obvious immediate beneficiaries. The motivation for doing so is petty, but not unexpected. Paying it forward isn’t really a thing in competitive motorsport.

With that in mind, it’s not hard to imagine what Aprilia might say about a test if Marc Marquez happens to get injured and miss races later on in 2025. Unlike the Martin case, the timing of Marc’s comeback would almost certainly have world championship implications. Just a thought…

The show matters – and missing riders rob it of players

Photo by: Team Gresini