Published Apr 27, 2026 by Michael Le Pard
| MARCO BEZZECCHI, JORGE MARTÍN AND LORENZO SAVADORI OUT |
| The sprint race on the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto ended with a negative result for Aprilia Racing. Marco Bezzecchi, after starting from the fourth spot on the grid, had a less than perfect start, compromised by Álex Márquez’s tear-off getting stuck beneath his rear tyre. Three laps from the end, with the arrival of heavy rainfall, the Italian rider opted to swap out his bike for the one set up for the rain, only to crash a few turns later. It was an unlucky race for Jorge Martín as well who, despite a good start from the seventh spot on the grid, was forced to retire during the second lap due to a problem with the bike as he was in fourth place. Lorenzo Savadori, riding in a wild-card slot, was involved in a crash caused by Toprak Razgatlioglu, forcing him to retire. |
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| Unfortunately, the tear-off got stuck in the fairing and it stayed there when I stopped. A bit before the start, it came loose and ended up beneath the bike, just ahead of the rear tyre, so I ran over it and started to burn out. When I got back out on the track with the rain tyres, I crashed almost straight away. | |
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| I realised straight away from the start that something wasn’t right. I had a strange feeling with the brake. We still don’t know what happened – the techs are analysing all the data. The team is still united though, and that is the most important aspect. These situations are all part of racing, and over the years I’ve learned to face them more calmly. | |
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| Today was an unlucky race for me, the rhythm and the pace was good because I was in the top ten, so it was a good race. Then another rider did a mistake, and I did a very big crash. So fortunately, I’m not injured, nothing broken in my body but I’m not at 100%. I hope to be in a better shape for the race. | |
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| The morning started off well enough, despite some difficulties, with four bikes still going through to Q2. It’s a shame because the sprint race was compromised by a series of unfortunate events beyond our control, like the tear-off under Marco’s tyre – a situation that has already happened to other riders but shouldn’t, because of a whole series of precautions that are supposed to be taken. As for Jorge, we had a problem for which we are still trying to figure out the cause, but it is quite clear that it was not a technical problem, but rather a procedural one. We’ll try to make up for it on Sunday, because we are competitive overall, once everything falls into place. | |
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Michael Le Pard (“Mr. Totalmotorcycle”) is the Founder of Total Motorcycle, the world’s largest motorcycle information site, trusted by over 430 million riders since 1999. With over 34 years of experience in motorcycles, gear and rider culture, he has built a global community dedicated to empowering and inspiring motorcyclists.
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