Jorge Martin will be scratching his head after ‘unbelievable’ Aprilia fiasco at the Americas Grand Prix

Add as preferred source on Google

Aprilia were hoping to put in a solid performance at the Grand Prix of the Americas with Jorge Martin watching on from the garage.

The defending champion has made his first appearance in the MotoGP paddock this weekend since his crash at Sepang. Martin suffered a violent highside on day one of pre-season testing, putting an end to his winter preparations.

Aprilia’s optimism was shattered after Martin’s crash – they had been hoping for a solid outing in testing to prepare for 2025. Things got worse when the Spaniard crashed a supermoto bike in training, suffering more fractures to his left hand.

The severity of his injuries has left the number one rider sidelined for the start of the year. Martin has missed Thailand and Argentina and will not ride at the Americas Grand Prix – but will watch on from the Aprilia pit box.

Martin will be eager to see how the team operates to give him the best possible setup for his MotoGP return. But after watching qualifying, he will be left stunned by the team’s performance.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Jorge Martin from net worth to girlfriend

Jorge Martin will be scratching his head after Aprilia failed to reach Q2 at the Americas Grand Prix

Aprilia would have come to Austin with optimism. The team secured the only non-Ducati win in 2024 at COTA courtesy of a great performance from Maverick Vinales.

However, there was some concerns heading into the weekend. Martin’s replacement Lorenzo Savadori is not 100% fit after suffering an injury in Argentina.

It was perhaps not a surprise to see the Aprilia test rider at the bottom of the timesheets in Q1. However, the other three riders also failed to reach Q2.

Martin’s teammate Marco Bezzecchi could only manage third, missing out to Luca Marini and Fabio Quartararo. The Italian will start 13th for the Sprint and the main race.

Trackhouse riders Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez both struggled on Saturday. The pair crashed in FP2 and Q1 respectively and will line up 18th and 19th.

Speaking on the TNT Sports coverage of Q1, Gavin Emmett and Neil Hodgson were in disbelief by Aprilia’s performance. The former said: “So that’s disappointing for isn’t it for Aprilia here? Race winners one year ago, and none of them are in Q2 and Marco Bezzecchi will be 13^th on the grid.”

Hodgson had just one word for Aprilia’s disaster in qualifying as he said: “Unbelievable.” It marks a dramatic decline from their success in Austin in 2024.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Aprilia from the MotoGP team’s riders to hierarchy

Aprilia will be desperate to get Jorge Martin back on track in Qatar

Aprilia’s qualifying performance at COTA is the latest setback in what has been a challenging start to 2025. The Scorze-based team will be desperate to get Martin onto the RS-GP25 as soon as possible.

However, the Spaniard will likely not be competitive straight away. Martin has little to no knowledge of the 2025 Aprilia after missing pre-season and will be playing catch-up for the first few races.

The 27-year-old is gunning for a return to MotoGP in Qatar. But Martin will not ride a bike before he makes his comeback after Aprilia failed to get special dispensation for a private test.

There are even doubts about Martin returning for Qatar due to the complexity of his injuries. That would mean that his Aprilia debut would come at Jerez – something the team cannot afford to have happen.