Jorge Martin to drop three places on Spanish GP grid after penalty

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Jorge Martin's chances of picking up a first grand prix win since 2024 have taken a blow after he was hit with the three-place grid penalty for Sunday's Spanish GP.

The factory Aprilia rider was 'observed to be riding slow online disturbing another rider at Turns 3-4' during the final minutes of Friday afternoon's Practice session. That rider was Gresini Ducati's Alex Marquez, who comfortably topped the timesheets regardless.

While Martin's task on Sunday will be tougher as a result of the grid penalty, he did at least set himself up for the best possible qualifying by joining Marquez in picking up a direct ticket to the Saturday Q2 session.

This looked a shaky prospect for Martin at various points during the first day's track action, when the 28-year-old crashed twice.

Martin's tumble in the morning was particularly bizarre, given that it came after the end of the session itself. He was on his way to the customary practice starts when he dropped it at Turn 3, causing significant damage to his primary bike, which was only repaired just in time for Practice in the afternoon.

That crash was Martin's second in a non-competitive situation in as many race weekends. He also fell whilst attempting a celebratory wheelie following his sprint victory in the USA last time out.

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Halfway through Practice at Jerez, Martin went down again, this time at the final corner, Lorenzo.