Jorge Martin says day one of the Buriram MotoGP test marked the first time “I’ve felt like this is my bike”, as he made his 2026 on-track debut with Aprilia.

The 2024 world champion missed the Sepang test earlier this month after undergoing multiple operations in December on pre-existing injuries.

Suffering an injury-hit maiden campaign on the Aprilia last year, Jorge Martin comes into the new campaign with just seven race weekends on the RS-GP.

After last November’s Valencia test, he admitted that he still “felt like a rookie” in some aspects of riding the Aprilia.

But on Saturday at the 2026 Buriram test, Martin made a fast start to the first session and was 13th overall on what proved to be a promising start to his year.

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“I felt good straight away, the bike is working good,” he said.

“It’s nice because this track used to be tough for us. But, for myself, I’ve been always fast here, always competitive.

“So, it was continuing my rhythm a bit in this track. But I feel good.

“The job they did in Malaysia was super, and the job they did during the winter.

“So, I’m happy that everyone comes really naturally; I don’t have to override like in the past.”

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Martin added that the ergonomic changes Aprilia have made to his bike have made it feel like his for the first time.

He also credits his strong start to testing on not having to try many new items, though concedes he will have to start doing so soon.

“Maybe today is the first day I’ve felt like this is my bike,” he added.

“Also, we changed my body position on the bike, moving the weight a bit.

“And straight away I felt really good. So, we will continue in this position.

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“I think the good thing is I didn’t have a lot of things to try. I was quite relaxed.

“So, I was just riding like I was preparing a race weekend. For sure, now I will try some parts because I need to help Marco develop the bike.”

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