Jorge Martin has an extra complication for his latest return to MotoGP action as his Valencia Grand Prix weekend began with him formally being given a double long-lap penalty that had always been expected but was probably easy for even Martin himself to forget given how long ago the offence took place.

It's a punishment for the crash that triggered his injury absence in the first place - the opening-lap error in the Japanese GP sprint race at the end of September in which he cannoned into Aprilia team-mate Marco Bezzecchi.

A penalty was always likely for that error, but new chief steward Simon Crafar has usually waited to formally apply penalties to riders until their return when they suffer an injury in a crash that they caused.

Bezzecchi had a similar experience when he was penalised for crashing into Marc Marquez in the round after Motegi at Mandalika. As he had to go to hospital for checks that day, he wasn't given his own double long-lap penalty for taking out Marquez until he arrived in the paddock for the next race at Phillip Island a fortnight later.

Martin sustained a broken collarbone in the Motegi crash, his fourth injury of the season, and has not raced since.

Returning for the season finale at Valencia will mainly be with the post-race test in mind so he can get an early taste of Aprilia's 2026 bike and a say in its direction, meaning the race weekend itself will be more about gently playing himself back in than aiming for any kind of result.

It's also a chance to get his double long-lap penalty out of the way, as had he not made it back for Valencia it would have been hanging over him at the start of the 2026 season - a year he will desperately hope to get off to a much smoother start than his fraught and painful title defence did this season.

Martin: Injury was 'much worse than expected'

Martin arrived to Valencia "still far from 100 percent" and well aware he might have to cut the weekend short.

"I will try to prepare 2026, that's why I'm here," he explained.

"I will try to start building some confidence. And, you know, I didn't want to wait till [pre-season testing in] February to come back - that's why I'm here.

"Even before the penalty, there was no pressure [for a result]. It's one of my best tracks, for sure, but not this time. It's strange to come to a race knowing that you won't be performing at your 100 percent, it's quite strange, but I will try to make laps with no pressure, will try to make my long laps and then try to get some info, getting ready for [the test on] Tuesday."

Martin said that he had originally hoped to return potentially as early as Phillip Island - before it became clear the damage way too significant to entertain this.

"The injury was much worse than what we expected. The first day I was counting [days], and I said 'OK, maybe in Australia, I can be back', so two races. Just two races. But then I understood that the injury was much worse than expected - with ligaments, muscles.

"It was tough to even be here in Valencia. I didn't ride still a bike, just the scooter from the paddock, so it will be a nice test tomorrow to go again on a MotoGP bike."

The weekend will mark Martin's last opportunity to carry the #1 plate for the foreseeable future, his title defence mostly becoming an absentee season.

"It was nice to ride the #1, but I'm really looking forward to put the #89 again," he insisted.

But when asked by The Race whether it's definitely be the #89 (that he won the MotoGP title with) or his previous preferred number #88 (which he couldn't run in MotoGP due to it being Miguel Oliveira's number, but can now switch to with Oliveira leaving), he was non-committal.

"Good question," he said.