Martin left his right-handed Ducati at Turn 7 when he had one lap behind him in the closing stages of today’s practice session.
Although it is still unclear how the crash happened, Martin was beaten badly when he stumbled upon the gravel trap and needed medical attention.
The session was highlighted in red while the medics attended to Martin, who was declared conscious but had to be taken off the track to an ambulance to be taken to the medical center.
Martin was declared unfit for the remainder of the weekend after injuring his head, hand and ankle.
A short update from MotoGP read: “Rider # 89 Jorge Martin has been declared unfit with bruised head, right hands and ankle bruises. He will be taken to hospital for further medical examination.”
Prior to the MotoGP announcement, Pramac rider-trainer Fonsi Nieto told Spanish TV: “After the fear they told us everything was fine. His hand and leg hurt a lot, but he is conscious. We don’t think about tomorrow just because he’s recovering physically. “
MotoGP’s Doctor Angle Charte admits he is concerned about a possible break in Martin’s hand and says the Spaniard may have briefly passed out in the accident.
“Severe, high-energy trauma with multiple twists and turns,” Charte told DAZN.
“At first he was conscious on the floor, but when the doctors arrived it seemed that he had passed out for a moment.
“The neurological exam was normal, always conscious and oriented, and [he’s] in much pain.
“The initial diagnosis is a cranioencephalic trauma and multiple multiple traumas with the possibility of multiple fractures, probably on the hand and foot (right).
“We have decided to evacuate him to Faro hospital where he will have a full CAT scan.
“The prognosis is not serious, but it is cautious.
“There is a fracture (hand) that I don’t like very much, but I want to have a scan that tells us if it needs surgery. He also has severe pain in his knee.”
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It has now been confirmed that Martin suffered fractures in both his hands and right ankle. The injuries to the right hand and ankle had to be operated on.
All of this comes just two weeks after Martin emerged as one of the heroes of the Doha Grand Prix weekend in Qatar.
The rookie stormed into a first pole position on the second lap in Qatar, ahead of Pramac teammate Johann Zarco, before leading the race for 17 laps and finishing third.
Martin’s accomplishments over the Doha weekend were praised by many big names in the MotoGP paddock, including three-time MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, who compared Martin’s riding to his own and that of double champion Casey Stoner.
The Portugal weekend was also a bloody day for LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami, who suffered a quick fall at the start of the second RP on Friday.
Nakagami was thrown from his Honda on the ridge while escaping Turn 1 in FP2, injuring his shoulder and removing a lot of skin from his leg.
He was able to return to the session after checks and drove on Saturday morning, even though he had more shoulder pain.