Aprilia Racing renews the challenge at the Austrian GP

Sep 19, 2026 Michael Le Pard News
JORGE MARTÍN AND MARCO BEZZECCHI ON THE GRID FOR THE FIFTEENTH GP OF THE SEASON
Just a few days after the Misano race, Aprilia Racing is back at the track in Styria for the fifteenth GP of the season, the final one before the overseas stage of the championship begins.

Jorge Martín heads to Austria after a positive week in Misano which, however, had a complicated ending. After taking third in the sprint race, the Spanish rider finished the long race fifth, conditioned by presumed compartment syndrome. Therefore, the goal in Austria will be to assess his physical condition in order to tackle the weekend in the best possible conditions.

On the other hand, for Marco Bezzecchi, the Austrian GP will be a chance to turn the page after a long race in Misano that ended early for him after a crash on the first lap. The Italian rider will be picking up from where he left off on Friday and Saturday in Misano – with pole position and the all-time lap record, as well as his podium finish in the sprint race – to aim for a return to battling for the top spots.

Previously known as the Österreichring, this historic circuit is located in the Styria region of Austria. The track is 4.35 km long and has 10 corners with a 65-metre range in elevation. From 2022, in order to increase safety, a chicane was introduced on turn 2, thereby making the layout different from the one used in Formula 1.
Misano did not go exactly as we expected. Despite this, we’ll hold onto the positive aspects, because in the long race, I had a good feeling, a good pace, and I was riding the way I like to up until I began to feel my forearm tightening up. After Austria, we’ll evaluate how to tackle this physical problem, and we’ll examine the possible solutions. Aprilia continues to do an outstanding job to help me find the right feeling and go into the weekend with as few doubts as possible. Now we need to focus on Austria, which is a track I like. I’d like to thank the team for the work they’re doing and the fans who supported us for the entire weekend in Misano. The atmosphere was spectacular.
I’m obviously disappointed about the Misano race, but the positive thing is that Austria is coming up straight away. Getting back in the saddle as quickly as possible after a mistake is fundamental. I’m clearly sorry about the crash, but we are taking away a lot of positive things from Misano: speed, the pole position, and my best result in a sprint race this season. The mistake in the Misano race obviously hurts, but we’ll try to transform that pain into grit for Austria.

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