MotoGP Champ Jorge Martin Out Again After Qatar Crash
The reigning champ's had an injury-filled 2025. A Qatar crash has him out for the third time in the opening months of the year.
The Morning Warmup
April 16, 2025
Hey there, race fans.
It’s Wednesday morning, which means we’re inching toward another race weekend. But before we get there, we’ve got a MotoGP injury update, potential for a Saudi Arabian F1 entry and a host of interesting notes from the racing world.
Let’s get into it.
Today’s Top Stories
1) Jorge Martin remaining in hospital, out for the foreseeable future (MotoGP)
Reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Martin is going to be out for a second extended period after suffering vicious injuries in his Qatar return.
His Aprilia team confirmed Monday that Martin will spend several days in Doha’s Hamad General Hospital after a CT scan revealed “an increase in the pneumothorax” injury that requires intervention.
It’s the latest in a streak of setbacks for Martin, who reached the sport’s peak in 2024 but has been plagued by injury to open 2025. He missed the bulk of preseason testing after an opening day crash, was ruled out of the first three rounds of the season after another shunt and suffered another unfortunate accident Sunday in Qatar. What looked like an innocuous accident turned threatening when he was briefly hit from behind by the trailing Fabio di Giannantonio.
Ducati’s di Giannantonio described the moment as “the worst scene of my life.”
“Honestly, it was a super bad crash, and he was still on the ground,” he said. “I was watching the (giant trackside) screens trying to understand if he was okay or not.”
From The Race:
His Aprilia team initially now revealed he has suffered a "chest trauma" but is "conscious without problems with his limbs".
The trauma was described as a "rib contusion on the right thorax with pneumothorax", meaning a punctured lung.
Examination at the hospital, where he went from the medical centre, subsequently conirmed the aforementioned "increase in the pneumothorax", which "will make it necessary to place a drainage in aspiration".
He spent Sunday night in the hospital where he was found to have "eight fractures affect the posterior costal arches from the first to the eighth and there are three fractures observed in the lateral arches from the seventh to the ninth".
The injuries will once again leave Martin on the sidelines for a lengthy spell. There’s no current timetable for his return.
(Source(s): Valentin Khorounzhiy / The Race, Richard Asher / Motorsport)
2) Saudi Arabia open to potential F1 entry with PIF (F1)
Saudi Arabia has made investments into various mainstream sporting entities around the world through its Public Investment Fund (PIF).
It sounds like a Formula 1 team could be next.
Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, chairman of the country’s motorsports federation, confirmed as much.
“I mean, it could happen,” Al-Faisal said. “It could happen soon if you see the growth, first of all. If you’re going to buy a Formula 1 team, then people will buy it to make money out of it, especially if it’s going to be bought by one of the PIF (Public Investment Fund).”
Saudia Arabia has consistently increased its ties to the world’s most popular racing series in recent years. It began welcoming F1 for a grand prix in Jeddah starting in 2021 and is working on a new circuit at Qiddiya. Al-Faisal would like to see Saudi Arabia host two grands prix per year, but knows it’s a challenge given F1’s complicated calendar. Aramco is a global partner of F1 and a title partner of Aston Martin, one of the sport’s 10 (soon to be 11) teams.
The next logical step would be fielding a team. It’s open to possibility, too - the most recent Concorde Agreement allows for 12 teams, one more than will be present on the grid with Cadillac’s entry in 2026. Everything just needs to line up, which is the tricky part.
“Nobody dislikes making money, so if you can make money out of Formula 1, but I think it’s very tricky,” Al-Faisal said. You need to know exactly which team to buy and who to partner with and who will manage this.
“It’s very difficult because you see Formula 1 became very competitive and there’s a lot of changes in the regulations. We saw (the change that) is going to come in 2026 and the talks about Formula 1 going back to the V10 engines – naturally-aspirated engines – so the decision is very difficult.
“It’s not easy to say which team to buy and how you’re going to manage it. But we have a lot of interest. They’re sponsoring, we’re hosting a Formula 1 race, we’re sponsoring teams, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see an announcement for a Saudi team.
“And personally, I would like to see a Saudi team, but if Saudi Arabia, or one of the Saudi companies will be involved in one of the teams, I would like them to do it the right way and be successful. So it’s a tricky question, but why not?”
(Source(s): Chris Medland / RACER)
News and Notes
NASCAR
Katherine Legge has confirmed the full 12-race schedule she intends to run for the rest of the NASCAR season, with seven Xfinity Series starts and five Cup appearances. (Kelly Crandall / RACER)
NASCAR has made a big new hire - Klutch Sports Group, the agency founded by NBA great LeBron James’ agent, Rich Paul. The task? Finding a new title sponsor for the Xfinity Series. (Alex Harrington / Motorsport)
Denny Hamlin gave strong critique of the Next Gen car on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast after playing back Sunday’s race in Bristol, knocking the similar speeds and saying the car wasn’t ready for its 2022 debut. (Matt Weaver / Sportsnaut)
NASCAR’s Elton Sawyer made an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday, where he put the focus on finding the proper tire compound. (Matt Weaver / Sportsnaut)
It’s the latest in an ongoing short track tire struggle for NASCAR’s top flight. (Jordan Bianchi / The Athletic )
Kyle Larson doesn’t make many appearances in the Xfinity Series. But when he does, his goal is to embarrass the field. (FOX Sports)
With time to ruminate, RACER’s Kelly Crandall offered a memorable farewell to the late Jon Edwards.
Larson’s dominant win on Sunday was a fitting tribute to Edwards. (Jeff Gluck / The Athletic)
Daniel Suarez reflected on the scary moment an errant tire nearly hit his crew during a round of pit stops after Sunday’s race. (Lydia Mee / Motorsport)
IndyCar
There have been calls for Penske Entertainment to shift IndyCar’s officiating to an independent solution ever since the controversial end to the 2023 Indy 500, which saw an untraditional push for a one-lap dash that led Penske’s Josef Newgarden to victory. But no changes are imminent at this time. (Marshall Pruett / RACER)
Kyle Kirkwood put on a show in Long Beach. Could he be the proper challenger to Alex Palou? (Jack Benyon / The Race)
It wasn’t a high number for network television, but IndyCar delivered year-on-year gains with 552,000 viewers against NASCAR and The Masters for the Long Beach Grand Prix. (Marshall Pruett / RACER)
Few races have a vibe like Long Beach - but Penske Entertainment hopes to bring it to more races in the future. (Marshall Pruett / RACER)
F1
Red Bull suffered a shocker in Bahrain. What’s going on with the team’s drop in form? (Jon Noble / The Race)
Concerns are mounting at Red Bull, with the poor showing undoing the goodwill from Max Verstappen’s victory in Japan. (James Ellingworth / The Athletic)
The result has Helmut Marko worried that Max Verstappen could depart from the company at year’s end. (Chris Medland / RACER)
In a year where he’s expected to be the frontrunner, Lando Norris has been struggling. The championship leader is now looking for answers. (Chris Medland / RACER)
McLaren is still lighting it up at the front of the field, though. The company’s primary advantage seems to be the rear tires. (Jon Noble / The Race)
Is Norris’ teammate, Oscar Piastri, now the favorite to claim the 2025 title? (BBC)
It’s been a tense start to the year for Jack Doohan. But his seat appears to be safe until at least the summer. (Scott Mitchell-Malm & Jon Noble / The Race)
Haas F1 Team enjoyed a strong weekend in Bahrain. Strategy played a key role in the end result. (Filip Cleeren / Motorsport)
Supercars
James Courtney had a bad weekend in Taupo - like, the “worst ever” weekend of his Supercars career, if you take him at his word. (Stefan Bartholomaeus / Speedcafe)
Sports Cars
Robert Wickens showed pace in his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship appearance at Long Beach. Now he’s hoping to build on it. (R.J. O’Connell / RACER)
Part of the build includes a debut in the Nurburgring 24 in a Hyundai TCR car as part of a joint effort between Target Competition and Bryan Herta Autosport. (Davey Euwema / Sportscar365)
Porsche has been given a weight reduction as part of the FIA’s BoP adjustments ahead of the race at Imola. (Jamie Klein / Sportscar365)
The company is also planning to roll out an Evo update for its Type-992 911 GT3 R in 2026, with a competitive debut this weekend at Spa as part of the car’s development. (Davey Euwema / Sportscar365)
GT3 cars stole the show at the 82nd Goodwood Members Meeting. (Daily Sportscar)
Longtime Formula E ace Sam Bird is reportedly in the running for a sports car racing return with McLaren’s Hypercar program. (John Dagys / Sportscar365)
Here’s a surprise: Rutledge Wood is going sports car racing. The longtime television presenter will run four upcoming GR Cup North America race weekends, starting with Circuit of the Americas (Daily Sportscar)
There’s a 58-car entry list for the Road to Le Mans in June. (Daily Sportscar)
A field of 39 cars will compete in the Michelin 24H European Series race at Spa-Francorchamps. (Daily Sportscar)
Short Tracks
Ricky Brooks is leaving his post as general manager of Cordele Motor Speedway to focus on the UARA National Super Late Model Series and UARA Sportsman. (matt Weaver / Short Track Scene)
Moto
Yamaha is currently testing a V4 MotoGP engine being developed for its M1 MotoGP machine in private at Valencia. (Oriol Puigdemont & Richard Asher / Motorsport)
Marc Marquez called his victorious Qatar weekend the most important one so far in 2025. That could be bad news for teammate Pecco Bagnaia. (Valentin Khorounzhiy / The Race)
Isle of Man TT organizers have begun revealed the starting lineups for each race. Here’s a look at who’s competing. (Megan White / The Race)
Daxton Bennick, one of the Supercross 250SX class riders, suffered a vertebra compression fracture in a Lap 1 crash at Lincoln Financial Field.
Here’s what riders had to say leaving Philadelphia’s Monster Energy Supercross round. (Dan Beaver / NBC Sports)
Drag Racing
Overshadowed by Tony Stewart’s Top Fuel breakthrough was a final round debut for one of the three drivers he beat: Jasmine Salinas. (Drag Illustrated)
Electric Racing
Jaguar TCS Racing team principal James Barclay is poised to depart the company at the end of the current Formula E season. (Dominik Wilde / RACER)
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On Track
Up for some short track racing? There will be a couple options each night - one on dirt and another on asphalt, split evenly between FloRacing and DirtVision.
All Times ET
Wednesday, April 16
Dirt
Weekly Racing (Millbridge Speedway): 6:15 p.m., DirtVision
Short Tracks
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park): 7:45 p.m., FloRacing
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Thursday, April 17
Dirt
MARS Late Models (Cedar County Raceway): 7:30 p.m., FloRacing
Short Tracks
500 Sprint Car Tour (Anderson Speedway): 5:45 p.m., DirtVision
Number of the Day: 7
Long Beach is a grand prix for the dominators. Each of the past seven editions of the race have been won by the driver that led the most laps. Those winners have combined to lead 367 of 600 potential laps, or 61.17% of all laps completed.