The 77th edition of the premier class of motorcycle racing is kicking off for the first time in Thailand however reigning champion Jorge Martin will not be racing, forced to wait his MotoGP debut in Aprilia colours.

A crash during pre-season testing left the Spaniard with three fractures across his hand and foot while another incident left him with four new fractures in his wrist.

As a result Martin has been ruled out of both the Thailand and Argentine Grands Prix with no clear date as to when his title defence will start.

“The blows are always hard, but when they come one after another, the impact is multiplied,” Martin wrote on social media.

“This time they have been especially strong, both physically and mentally, and have meant that, for the first time in my life, I have missed the opening race of the season.

“If there is one thing I am clear about, it is that blows can be overcome. I don’t know if this will make me stronger, but I do know that I will get through it, as I have always done.”

Whilst Martin won’t be here this weekend, there will still be two Aprilias with replacement Lorenzo Savadori racing alongside Marco Bezzecchi, who also made the move from VR46.

Australia’s Jack Miller remained on the grid for an 11th MotoGP season, but in new colours.

Whilst Miller returns to Pramac, the team has switched manufacturers from the all conquering Ducati to Yamaha. 

The Townsville boy said he enters the new season with the new team with plenty of optimism after a tough season at KTM, which replaced him with young star Pedro Acosta.

“I mean I was excited anyway,” Miller said. 

“Anytime I get to go racing is a good time, so I’m excited regardless.

“But, more optimistic, I would say, after the initial shakedown of the bike and understanding it and getting to know it, I feel more optimistic than I would’ve been four months ago, three months ago.

“Testing went well, the whole testing plan went really well, we got through what we needed to get through, obviously we’re still working but it’s given us a solid foundation to start to build from.”

The Marquez brothers emerged the fastest from the five days of pre-season testing.

Alex Marquez had the early bragging rights by emerging from the three-day swing in Sepang with the fastest 1:56.493.

Then it was the turn of the more experienced Marc Márquez, who looked fast in the red of Ducati by being a tenth clear than everyone with a 1:28.855 at the recent two-day Buriram test.

All eyes will be on the #93 as the six-time world champion races for factory Ducati outfit for the first time.

Ominously Marquez was a weapon on year old machinery last year taking three wins for Gresini.

How he settles into the factory squad alongside the established Francesco Bagnaia will be fascinating.

His move is the equivalent of Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari or Valentino Rossi replacing Casey Stoner at Ducati in 2011, but unlike the “Doctor” Marquez arrives when the Italian giant is expected to win a fourth straight title.

As he completes his journey from leaving the troubled Honda to Ducati, Marquez said he feels ready to go all the way in 2025.

“I mean, of course I feel that I’m ready to fight for the championship,” he said.

“Of course, the championship is super long and you don’t know what will happen. But I feel ready.

“In ’13 I didn’t feel ready, so we can say that ’17, ’18, ’19 I felt ready but then you never what will happen.

“So, let’s see. Pre-season has been good – not only here [in Thailand] but also in Malaysia, which for me it was more important in Malaysia than here, and from now on let’s see how we can adapt in different race tracks.

“Has been a good winter, especially I feel since Catalunya when I tried the bike.”

On the other side of the garage is Bagnaia, who will be desperate to get his world title back and will face the biggest challenge of his career with Marquez next to him.

The Italian said at this stage there is “no strategy” from his new Spanish rival to employ psychological games as they are the favourites to fight for the title.

“We don’t have any agreement, honestly,” Bagnaia said.

“But we are starting the season, so it’s not a secret that we both want to win the championship – we are here for that, and the ambition in our team is to win the championship.

“So, we will have to do the maximum, I think many times this season we will fight. I don’t think he will start already here doing some strategy because the most important thing right now is to improve, to learn from the new bike – and it’s true that the base is the GP24 bike, but every season something is changing.

“So, we will try to adapt to it, and we don’t want that the other manufacturers close the gap to us, so we have also to work together to improve still, and then in the race fight and the best will win.”