Marco Bezzecchi
Jorge Martin was left waxing lyrical about his Aprilia teammate Marco Bezzecchi after he recovered from a disastrous Sprint race to finish second at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The Italian came into Jerez having won the last five MotoGP races, and he was looking to keep that streak going. But Marc Marquez and Ducati looked to put up a fight, grabbing pole position as the Aprilia rider lined up fourth.
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The Sprint brought yet more struggles for Bezzecchi on Saturday as he crashed out of the race in the rain-soaked conditions. Bezzecchi was caught out by Alex Marquez’s tear-off visor on his way to the grid, which got stuck in his rear wheel and dropped him to P14 at the start.
No one could match Alex Marquez at the Spanish Grand Prix as he controlled proceedings to win the race. Marc Marquez crashed out on lap two at turn 11, handing second to Bezzecchi, which he would retain in a great comeback at Jerez.
Jorge Martin lauds Marco Bezzecchi’s ‘incredible’ performance at the Spanish Grand Prix
While Jerez is not one of Aprilia’s strongest tracks, having never won there, the Noale outfit again showed the step forward they have taken in 2026. Martin missed out on a podium in P4, with Trackhouse’s Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez finishing P5 and P6, respectively.
Speaking via Motorsport Espana after the race, Martin applauded his teammate for his performance and how he put Saturday’s woes behind him to grab another strong result.
“Marco is undoubtedly in the best form of his career; it’s incredible how he turns things around on Sunday,” said the Spaniard.
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Martin then assessed his race and the issues he suffered in the high-speed corners: “After a complicated weekend, I managed to get the most out of it. It could have been worse because the other two Aprilias almost caught me.
I’m still working on it, but I need to understand the problems with the rear of the bike this Sunday, because my prediction was much better and we weren’t able to achieve it.
I’m pushing a bit to the limit in turns 4 and 8; the steering tightens up a lot, and if I don’t enter the corner perfectly, the bike moves around and I lose confidence. I’ve improved many things, but I need to gain confidence in the fast corners.”
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Marco Bezzecchi must improve Saturdays to maintain MotoGP lead
Bezzecchi keeps hold of his championship lead after Jerez, extending it to 11 points over Martin and 30 points over third-place Fabio Di Giannantonio.
However, the lead could have been more if it were not for another scoreless Sprint race. Bezzecchi has failed to finish in three of the four short-form races this season.
If he wants to maintain his advantage, he has to fix his problems in Sprint races, especially now that Ducati have got a win on the board, and Martin is improving his form at Aprilia.
If it comes down to it, Neil Hodgson thinks Aprilia will favour Bezzecchi over Martin in the championship fight. But the Italian must ensure that he can stay ahead.
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