Marco Bezzecchi
Aprilia achieved their best team result of the 2025 MotoGP season at Balaton Park as two of their riders finished in the top four.
For the first time since returning from injury, Jorge Martin finished inside the top five, battling from 16th on the grid to the sharp end before the conclusion of the race.
Meanwhile, Marco Bezzecchi was on hand to challenge Ducati’s relentless Marc Marquez for victory on a day when he wasn’t expecting to be able to be at the top.
It’s further proof that Aprilia’s recent progress means that they are now Ducati’s most reliable and consistent challenger at the top, but there is still a long way to go before they can beat them.
Martin has faced ‘similar problems’ to Bezzecchi in recent weeks, since returning from an extended MotoGP absence.
It didn’t take long, but Martin has ‘realised’ Aprilia’s big ‘problem’ and now must get to work to avoid letting it hurt his progress for the rest of the season.
READ MORE: Jorge Martin shares what new factor put him at his ‘limit’ for Aprilia at the Austrian Grand Prix
Paolo Bonora reveals Jorge Martin feedback on braking sparked Aprilia result they ‘didn’t expect’
Martin will be delighted with a ‘perfect’ Aprilia solution after they managed to cure some of their launch woes, which have plagued them for years.
It means that he can look forward to better getaways from now on, and it may have been a factor in his rise from 16th on Sunday at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Gaining 12 positions was worthy of a Rider of the Day nod.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the race, Aprilia manager Paolo Bonora shared how the reigning champion’s feedback helped spark a surprise result at Balaton Park.
“Yeah, to be honest, we didn’t expect such a good result. Because, since Friday, to be honest, both riders, all the four riders were not confident with the bike,” he said. “They struggle a lot changing direction for sure.
“Typically, we expect that our bike in this circuit with tight corners, with not so big and fluent corners, we know that we had suffered here. But, after the analysis of Friday, both riders, in particular Jorge, and Marco, say quite the same comment.
“We worked quite a lot on that specific weakened point. In particular, the hard braking, followed by the change in direction.”
READ MORE: Jorge Martin admits he ‘almost crashed’ trying to replicate Marc Marquez on MotoGP comeback
Why Jorge Martin has every reason to be excited for the 2026 MotoGP season
A man with a vengeance can be very scary, and after being forced to sit on the sidelines for most of 2025, Martin will have a point to prove next year.
After Honda tried to snatch Martin from Aprilia, he might have realised that home is where the heart is. His current employer gives him the best chance of beating Ducati for the time being.
He’s ready to become Marc Marquez’s closest challenger in the future, and he has eight more races to prepare himself for the endeavour this year.
However, Martin has warned 2027 is a ‘different story’ when the new regulations arrive and he is out of contract. He could be prepared to look at other options if they give him a greater chance of winning.
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