Aprilia offers Jorge Martin update after heavy MotoGP test crash

Aprilia sporting director says reigning MotoGP world champion Jorge Martin “is fine” and will have surgery in Spain on Friday following his heavy Sepang test crash.

Martin crashed twice early on the opening day of testing in Malaysia on Wednesday, with the second one a violent highside at Turn 2.

He was left with multiple fractures and had to be taken to hospital, with Martin ultimately ruled out of the rest of the Sepang test and his participation in the Buriram test in serious doubt.

Speaking with MotoGP.com's After the Flag, Bonora offered a positive update on Martin’s condition, while noting that Aprilia had to stop him from returning to the track after his crash.

“To be honest, we’d like to see the positive things of this,” he said.

“For sure, first of all, we are so happy that Jorge today is fine. He feels comfortable, he slept well this night, and he didn’t have any kind of particular problem.

“So, we are happy about this because after that kind of crash everybody was thinking about him.

“So, we are happy. To be honest, the difficult thing yesterday was to keep him calm because he wanted to rejoin the track, he wanted to know how the test is going on, what we are testing.

“So, it was funny because his recovery was so good. Tomorrow he will have the surgery in Spain.

“Now we are only waiting for the medical examination and the official statement from them.

“So, we now are waiting for only positive things regarding him because we need his power, we need his talent and we are waiting for him.”

Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola said on Wednesday that data showed there was no issue with the bike and Martin didn’t do anything unusual when he crashed.

While missing Martin has been a set-back for Aprilia’s test programme, Bonora says the fact it had a strong shakedown with Lorenzo Savadori has softened the blow.

“In this situation, we were lucky, because we did a very good shakedown with Lorenzo,” he added.

“We tested all the parts that we had in plan.

“So, at the end, we had before the official IRTA (International Race Teams’ Association) test already a clear picture of the advantages and disadvantages of the new parts.

“Lorenzo did a very good job. And to be realistic and fully honest, Marco during these two days gave us a lot of information - clear information. He was stable in his plan.

“He didn’t look at the times, he was fully focused on his plan and he did a very positive test for us.”