Marco Bezzecchi
Jorge Lorenzo has blasted Massimo Rivola’s treatment of Jorge Martin following the 2024 world champion’s crash at the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix, which saw him take out Aprilia teammate Marco Bezzecchi among a swathe of other riders.
Aprilia’s end to the Hungarian Grand Prix at the very first corner of the 26-lap race allowed Marc Marquez to secure a perfect weekend for himself and get a foot back in the door in the championship landscape.
Jorge Martin apologises for causing the crash at the start of the Hungarian GP. How would you feel if you were Marco Bezzecchi?
Massimo Rivola, the team principal of the factory Aprilia outfit, was furious with his rider’s mistake, publicly slamming Martin for making such a rookie error at the start of a long race.
Rivola later backtracked on his words, but his decision to make hasty comments regarding the incident has portrayed the Italian in a negative light amid such a ground-breaking season for the Noale-based MotoGP factory.
What’s more, Rivola has now been accused of having a ‘vendetta’ against Martin following his words in the press. The two Aprilia figures have had a tumultuous past, which has led some to believe the team principal hasn’t quite forgiven his star rider.
- READ MORE: Massimo Rivola told Aprilia did the ‘ugliest thing’ possible after Jorge Martin’s Hungarian GP crash
Jorge Lorenzo questions whether Ducati would have reacted in the same way as Aprilia after Jorge Martin crash
Legendary MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo is the latest figure to issue a verdict on the debacle at Noale, with the Spaniard highlighting how he would have found it difficult to hear his boss blasting him in the media.
If Jorge Martin was fully fit in 2025, where would he have finished with Aprilia?
“As a rider, I personally would have found that really hard to take; I feel like I don’t have the emotional support,” he said, via the Duralavita MotoGP podcast.
“As for Aprilia, changing mechanics probably won’t make any difference, because I reckon they’ll give him the same bike, but emotionally you already feel it – you don’t feel at ease, and if they’re giving him a hard time behind closed doors, well…”
The three-time premier class title-winner then questioned whether Ducati would have done the same with Francesco Bagnaia, had he fallen foul of taking Marquez out during his issue-ridden period with the Italian constructor.
“Can you imagine [Davide] Tardozzi or Gigi [Dall’Igna] speaking ill of Bagnaia because he misjudged his braking and took Marc out?” he asked.
The incident comes after Martin was seen getting physical with Aprilia chief Paolo Bonora after his retirement from the Catalan Grand Prix in May. An apology was issued, but things seemed to have reignited upon his mistake at Balaton Park.
As such, Lorenzo sees that incident as more of a concern than his mistake at the Hungarian GP, adding, “I think Martín’s behaviour in [the Catalan GP] pit lane, completely pushing the Aprilia engineer, was a bigger mistake than yesterday’s error.
“The consequence of yesterday is for the other riders; you’re not risking your life off the track. But on the track, he could have avoided it consciously, one hundred per cent.”
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