Marco Bezzecchi
Aprilia remain determined to keep hold of MotoGP world champion Jorge Martin. But Massimo Rivola knows he needs to make contingency plans.
It’s recently been reported that Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta could intervene to help Aprilia. He thinks it would be bad for the championship if Martin were to break free from his contract so early.
But the Spaniard has publicly stated that he’s exercised his release clause, and his camp see it as perfectly valid despite his injury absence. In contract disputes between athletes and their teams, the athlete usually wins.
That’s because most organisations see little benefit in keeping an unhappy asset. It’s hard to envisage the Martin/Aprilia relationship continuing after his bombshell announcement, even if it hasn’t been completely severed.
There are whispers that Martin has already agreed a deal with Honda that will run from 2026 until the end of 2028.
Ai Ogura now unlikely to join Aprilia if Jorge Martin leaves
When the Martin story first broke, Ai Ogura appeared the standout option for Aprilia. While he’s missed the last two races through injury, he’s had an excellent rookie season for satellite team Trackhouse so far.
Ogura has scored 43 points in six races, 18 more than teammate Raul Fernandez. He’s outqualified factory rider Marco Bezzecchi twice already.
Trackhouse boss Davide Brivio has called Ogura a ‘diamond’, but he’s also determined to hold onto him. Crucially, the 2024 Moto2 champion is contracted to the American team, which gives them control of his future.
Brivio said Trackhouse planned to keep both riders for 2026, and speaking on MotoGP’s Italian Grand Prix preview show, journalist Jack Appleyard said the consensus in the paddock is that Ogura is staying put.
“Davide Brivio was adamant over the course of the weekend that Ai Ogura isn’t going to go anywhere,” Appleyard said. “That seems pretty obvious.
“He is contracted to Trackhouse, rather than Aprilia. He might not be the man that many think will plug the gap if Jorge Martin is to leave for Honda.”
Aprilia could take a big risk by signing this rider as their Jorge Martin replacement
Who else could Aprilia sign? One wildcard option is Enea Bastianini, even though he’s under contract at Tech3.
Aprilia have been linked with Bastianini amid talk that he could rip up his KTM deal. They’re out of sync with the rider market, with the vast majority of riders pinned down to multi-year agreements.
That tempted them to look outside the Grand Prix paddock. Unfortunately, Nicolo Bulega rejected a possible Aprilia move by signing a new contract with Ducati’s WSBK arm.
They could also look at the lower classes, where Manuel Gonzalez is the standout candidate after an impressive Aragon test for Trackhouse. Aprilia and Yamaha are both interested in Gonzalez, who leads the Moto2 standings.
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