Marco Bezzecchi
Jorge Martin watched from the first MotoGP Sprint race of the season from home on Saturday. He confirmed as much with a post on his Instagram story.
Martin was due to return at the Thailand Grand Prix, but he suffered a second injury of the winter on Monday. The Aprilia rider was testing his strength on a motocross bike when he fell.
The world champion had missed almost all of testing after a violent crash on day one at Sepang. The highside fractured his right hand and left foot.
Martin has now sustained ‘particularly troublesome’ damage to his left hand. Massimo Rivola has all but ruled him out of the second race in Argentina too.
Test rider Lorenzo Savadori is deputising for Aprilia. He finished last in Saturday’s Sprint, seven seconds behind Somkiat Chantra.
There is talk among doctors that Martin may need three months to heal. One would expect him to attempt a return beforehand, but that is of course laden with risk.
Neil Hodgson can’t ‘imagine’ what Jorge Martin is thinking watching Ai Ogura
Martin’s Aprilia teammate Marco Bezzecchi didn’t score any points in the Sprint. While he qualified ninth, he finished 12th after a disastrous start.
Raul Fernandez, who missed two days of the Sepang test after an accident but returned for Buriram, was one place ahead. But the standout rider on Aprilia machinery was, without doubt, Ai Ogura.
The debutant finished in an outstanding fourth place, within a second of Francesco Bagnaia in third and just 4.4s behind victor Marc Marquez. Ogura has proved Davide Brivio right after he pushed to sign the Moto2 champion.
Speaking on TNT Sports, though, pundit Neil Hodgson suggested that Martin would find it difficult to watch Ogura. It’s a glimpse at what he could have achieved if he was fit to race.
“A shout-out to Jorge Martin, who unfortunately is licking his wounds at home,” Hodgson said. “Imagine what he’s thinking right now.
“He will be watching this race. He’s watching an Aprilia – he obviously would have been on the factory version of it – do the business.”
Why Massimo Rivola and Aprilia may be secretly angry with Jorge Martin at Thailand Grand Prix
Sylvain Guintoli praised the ‘unbelievable’ Ogura, who swept past Jack Miller around the outside at turn one. That highlighted his confidence in the RS-GP25.
Based on the rookie’s showing, a fully-fit Martin could have competed for a podium at the very least. While this is an exciting sign of what he can achieve when he returns, he’ll also be ruing the lost points.
Even when the rider with the no. 1 plate returns, he’ll need time before he can display his best form. Putting his injuries aside, he’s thousands of kilometres behind his rivals for track time.
Aprilia bosses will surely be unhappy with Martin, even if they haven’t said so in public. He crashed this week trying to ‘prove himself’, taking unnecessary risks in a meaningless session.
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