Marco Bezzecchi
MotoGP pundit Michael Laverty believes there is some animosity brewing within the factory Aprilia camp after seeing Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin get their elbows out during the Dutch Grand Prix Sprint race at Assen.
After the jubilation of taking his first pole position in MotoGP in nearly two years on Saturday morning, Jorge Martin’s performance in the Assen Sprint race undoubtedly brought him back down to earth.
The Spaniard immediately lost the lead of the race on the line to Trackhouse’s Ai Ogura, and had no answer for the ensuing moves that were completed on him by the rest of his Aprilia stablemates.
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He ended up taking the chequered flag in P5 as the last of the Noale-based constructor’s riders, and more importantly, behind his main title rival and teammate, Marco Bezzecchi.
The two factory Aprilia riders were locked into a heated battle for the majority of the race, with neither offering to give the other an inch as they duked it out for an advantage in the championship standings.
One particular move sent alarm bells ringing in the head of MotoGP pundit Michael Laverty, who has seen a stark shift in the way that Bezzecchi and Martin now interact in the heat of battle.
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Michael Laverty on Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin’s Assen Sprint race scrap
During TNT Sports’ analysis of the 13-lap race in the north of the Netherlands, Laverty and colleague Sylvain Guintoli both came to the same conclusion on one of the championship leader’s moves on Martin towards the latter stages of the race.
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On lap seven, at the height of their battle for P4, Bezzecchi appeared to have pushed Martin wide at turn 10 as he attempted a cutback move on the determined Spaniard. He completed the overtake, but not without showing the aggressive side of his riding style.
After the chequered flag, Laverty gave his thoughts on the close-call, saying, “It got a bit feisty between them both. There was a cutback from Bezzecchi that was quite intentional, quite deliberate, out on the edge of the curbs, showing Martin the very limits of the track.”
He then highlighted how he has felt that the atmosphere between Aprilia’s hard-charging duo has changed in recent race weekends, adding, “There’s a certain needle there that has been built up over the last few weeks.”
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Guintoli completely agreed, adding that the Italian rider was well aware of what he was doing. “Well, if you’re Bezzecchi there, you know what you’re doing,” he said. “You’re running all the way to the line and the kerb, and you know that Martin is on the outside.
“There’s only one way that this is going to end up, and that is Martin going up onto the kerb, where he doesn’t want to be. That was a bit like a ‘get out of the way’ type of move, which is nice to see.”
The Assen Sprint marked the first occasion of racing since Ducati and Aprilia confirmed their 2027 line-ups during the week. With Martin now riding for himself, and Bezzecchi racing for the team, plenty more fireworks are expected as the title race continues to heat up.
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