Jorge Martin has only contested one round of the 2025 MotoGP season since joining Aprilia, yet leaving the Noale outfit is already on his mind amid interest from Honda.
The defending riders’ champion stunned Aprilia at Le Mans when Martin informed the team of his intentions to activate an exit clause in the Spaniard’s two-year contract. Martin had to be in the top three of the championship after the French Grand Prix for it to become invalid.
Yet the only time that Martin has taken a chequered flag to date in the 2025 MotoGP season was when the Aprilia rider finished the Lusail Sprint in P16. The Qatar Grand Prix marked his return from a fractured left hand, but Martin sustained a pneumothorax plus 11 broken ribs.
Now, there is a divide between the two sides, as Aprilia do not believe Martin’s exit clause is valid having missed five of the first six rounds due to injury. So, the Noale crew turned down his offer to extend the clause by six races so he can review the level of the RS-GP25 further.
Aprilia consider World Superbikes championship leader Nicolo Bulega to replace Jorge Martin
The Italian factory refuse to leave themselves on the back foot should the 27-year-old leave after just a season, though, with Honda prepared to double Martin’s Aprilia salary. So, they are weighing up potential replacements, and an option could come from World Superbikes.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Jorge Martin from net worth to girlfriend
According to AS, WSBK championship leader Nicolo Bulega replacing Martin with the factory Aprilia MotoGP team ‘is not ruled out’ now. The 25-year-old is out of contract with Ducati in the production bike championship at the end of this term and is open to moving to MotoGP.
Ducati are in talks with Bulega about a potential new contract to stay in World Superbikes in 2026, which could leave the door open for the Montecchio Emilia native to move to MotoGP in the future. But Aprilia are considering Bulega with Martin leaving for Honda on the table.
Bulega has never raced in MotoGP and also never won a single Grand Prix in any of his years in Moto2 or Moto3. He entered 50 Moto3 races from 2015-2019 and 49 Moto2 races from 2019-2021 before switching to the Supersport World Championship, which he won in 2023.
His Supersport World Championship title led to his World Superbikes debut in 2024, and the Italian came second to Toprak Razgatlioglu for the title his rookie term by 43 points. Bulega, who Kevin Schwantz believes is a ‘top-level’ rider, currently leads Razgatlioglu by 31 points.
What has Nicolo Bulega said about leaving World Superbikes for MotoGP amid Jorge Martin’s uncertain Aprilia future?
But while Bulega believes MotoGP is “every rider’s dream”, he would prefer to wait until the prototype championship’s 2027 regulation changes and its transition from Michelin to Pirelli tyres. Bulega thinks he would need two years to be competitive with a current 1,000cc bike.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Aprilia from the MotoGP team’s riders to hierarchy
“MotoGP is every rider’s dream,” AS includes quotes from Bulega noting. “I’m not hiding the fact that I would like to [join the series]. But Aprilia are a factory team and, therefore, must aim for great results.
“I still think the right year to go to MotoGP would be 2027 and not next year, when everything will be the same. I would need at least two years to do the first as an apprentice and try to do a little better in the second. Who will go to Aprilia? For me, [Enea] Bastianini.”
