Honda are interested in signing Jorge Martin if the reigning MotoGP riders’ champion can get free from his contract at Aprilia, who do not believe his exit clause is still valid.
The 27-year-old has only appeared at one round of the 2025 MotoGP season so far in Qatar, having missed six and counting through injury. Martin sustained a hemopneumothorax plus 11 fractured ribs at Lusail, and is not expected to return to action before July at the earliest.
Martin has tracked Aprilia’s performances during his injury lay-off and has lost confidence in the RS-GP25 being as competitive as the factory promised. So, he met them at Le Mans and Martin told Aprilia that he plans to trigger the exit clause in a deal that only started this year.
But, as the Spaniard has only contested one round due to his injury problems, Aprilia do not believe Martin’s exit clause is valid. It states that he had to sit outside of the top three in the riders’ championship after the French Grand Prix to be able to void the second year in 2026.
Honda are watching how Martin and Aprilia solve their dispute, with the Noale factory even issuing a statement at Silverstone urging rival teams not to make the Madrid native an offer. Honda are ready to double Martin’s Aprilia wage but will not eye a rider who has a contract.
The Japanese factory targeting the Spaniard raised further concerns about what future Luca Marini has at Honda, as well, given the 27-year-old is out of contract after the 2025 MotoGP season. But MOW reports that Joan Mir could also now leave Honda at the end of this term.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Joan Mir from net worth to career stats
Mir is the only Honda rider with a contract for 2026, with LCR pilots Johann Zarco and rookie Somkiat Chantra in the same boat as Marini. Yet Honda have ‘offered’ Mir the chance to join LCR for 2026, as it is now considered ‘probable’ that Zarco will graduate to the factory team.
Honda could even demote Mir to LCR even if Martin ultimately agrees to stay at Aprilia next season, with Marini given a new contract to partner Zarco. Martin is Honda’s priority target over Zarco, but either rider joining next season might force Mir into a satellite role, as well.
Joan Mir has only finished two of the first seven Grands Prix in 2025
It was previously thought that Honda could demote Marini to LCR to sign Zarco given the 27-year-old does not currently have a contract for the 2026 season, unlike Mir. But the Italian is outshining the Spaniard so far this season, to tempt Honda to reconsider Mir’s factory seat.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Johann Zarco from career stats to net worth
Helped largely by Zarco winning the French GP at Le Mans for LCR’s fifth victory of all time in the premier class, the 34-year-old is the lead Honda rider in the 2025 championship with 97 points. The Cannes native even sits fifth in the standings and is just one point behind fourth.
Marini is the next-best Honda rider with 38 points in 13th place, having scored points in the first seven Grands Prix of 2025 – even after his tyre pressure penalty at Silverstone dropped the Italian from P8 to P15. His best finish came at the Americas Grand Prix with eighth place.
Mir, though, is only 19th in the standings with 18 points, having retired from five of the first seven Grands Prix this season. He has only taken the chequered flag for P9 in Argentina and P10 at Silverstone to seemingly convince Honda to explore ways to offload Mir before 2026.
