| Race Sunday on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was one of ups and downs for Aprilia Racing. Jorge Martín had a solid performance, coming back with a convincing ride from the seventeenth spot on the grid to finish tenth.
It was a more unfortunate weekend for Marco Bezzecchi whose race ended on the second lap with a crash on turn 1, following contact caused by Franco Morbidelli.
It was also a complicated race for Lorenzo Savadori, participating as a wild card and busy developing the RS-GP25. The Italian rider had to take a double long-lap penalty for a yellow-flag crash during the GP of Germany. In spite of a positive race, where he was making up positions, he crashed out just four laps from the end.
Another positive note came from Ai Ogura and Raúl Fernández, Trackhouse MotoGP Team riders, both finishing in the points with the RS-GP25. The Japanese rider finished sixth, whereas the Spaniard crossed the line in eleventh place.
JORGE MARTÍN
“The assessment is rather good. Tenth place for me is almost like a podium because, in any case, I started seventeenth. I had contact with a rider who hit me from behind on the first lap and ended up at the back of the group, and then I also had a problem with a device and had to take a shortcut, costing me several positions. However, I am still leaving with outstanding sensations and a good race – it was the best session of the weekend.”
MARCO BEZZECCHI
“It was a complicated weekend. Expectations were extremely high on Friday but then in qualifying I was unable to do a good time, which is why I started so far back. After a weekend like this, there is no better solution than to race in Misano. At the end of the day, we can’t sit around and cry over spilled milk; we simply need to work hard and analyse everything carefully to then pick up where we had left off.”
LORENZO SAVADORI
“I had two long-lap penalties to do, but the pace was still good and similar to the group ahead of me, so I was catching up. Unfortunately, four laps from the end, the front end closed up and I crashed on turn 10. The entire team worked well this weekend in the first wild card with the test team, and we were still close to the factory riders in terms of performance. Anyway, we need to see the glass half full. The bike is growing and now we’ll continue with the upcoming tests we have scheduled in Misano.”
MASSIMO RIVOLA
“Two Aprilias in the top ten is small consolation for a weekend where we certainly expected more. It was great to see Ogura with a brilliant performance in the race. My compliments to him. Friday we struggled in FP1, but at this point, we clearly need to rebuild our set-ups with the RS-GP25 on Fridays. It’s a real pity about Marco, knocked down by other riders on both Saturday and Sunday, given the pace that we knew he would have in the race. We’ll head to Misano with plenty of motivation to ride in front of our home fans.” |
