Marco Bezzecchi
Jorge Martin came away from the Catalan Grand Prix with no points to add to his championship tally, with it now being revealed that the former world champion ignored the advice of Aprilia ambassador Max Biaggi before Sunday’s race.
The Spaniard was just one point away from Marco Bezzecchi’s benchmark in the MotoGP standings upon his arrival in Barcelona last weekend. He now sits 15 points adrift of his factory Aprilia teammate.
Following the conclusion of the Grand Prix, Martin was furious with Aprilia’s top brass and was seen in the midst of a heated confrontation with team principal Massimo Rivola and manager Paolo Bonora inside the team’s garages.
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Martin was slammed by MotoGP fans after footage of the incident went viral on social media, and he issued a public apology to Aprilia in the aftermath of the backlash towards him.
Rivola and Bonora were not the only two team members who had a run-in with Martin during the Spaniard’s disappointing weekend, with team ambassador Max Biaggi also being left frustrated with his actions.
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Max Biaggi told Jorge Martin to ‘bring home the points’ before Catalan GP crash
During an appearance on Andrea Dovizioso’s MotoGP podcast, journalist Cosimo Curatola revealed a conversation that he had with Biaggi ahead of the Grand Prix on Sunday.
It was a difficult weekend all around for the Noale-based outfit, whose factory line-up could only manage P9 (Martin) and P12 (Bezzecchi) in qualifying. It was a far cry from their previous form over a single lap.
Due to both of their bikes being out of place in their grid slots, Biaggi wasn’t too optimistic regarding their chances in either of the races that took place at the Montmelo-based circuit.
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The Aprilia ace looked shaken up after his FP1 crash at the Catalan Grand Prix
“I had a chat with Max Biaggi on Sunday morning and I said to him: ‘Come on, you’re in with a good chance of the big prize today’,” Curatola began.
“He said: ‘I don’t know, I’m very doubtful, because I can see the tyres are going backwards, I mean it’s losing grip very quickly, and the riders are struggling’.”
The Italian journalist then revealed another segment of his conversation with the four-time 250cc world champion, adding, “And another interesting, almost prophetic thing he told me at that moment was that he had breakfast with Jorge.
“He said: ‘Please, Jorge, you’re starting from the back today. Let’s bring home the points, the world championship is a long one.’
“Martin told him, ‘Yes, yes, I’ll be on the podium, in third place, don’t worry.’ And Max told me, ‘If the rider tells you he’s aiming for third, it means he’s trying to win.’ Perhaps Martin shouldn’t have started to win.”
Jorge Martin cannot continue to be blinded by his ambition at Aprilia
Biaggi’s advice to the 2024 world champion came after he suffered four crashes in the preceding sessions, twice during practice on Friday, and once during qualifying and the Sprint race.
In fairness to Martin, his tangle with Raul Fernandez during the second race of the Grand Prix was not his own fault, but his aggressive style of racing was still on display throughout the entirety of his participation in the race.
Still, Biaggi’s advice came from an outside perspective, where he is able to take himself out of the situation at hand and look at the bigger picture. Martin simply needs to take on the same approach to ensure that he is still a title candidate at the end of the year.
To make matters worse, Martin suffered another crash during a test in Barcelona on the day following the Grand Prix. He was taken to the hospital following the incident and was deemed lucky not to have sustained any fractures.
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