More injury woes for Aprilia MotoGP team in Argentina sprint

MotoGP champion Jorge Martin’s stand-in at Aprilia, Lorenzo Savadori, will be assessed prior to Sunday’s Argentina Grand Prix after an injury forced him to retire from the sprint.

Aprilia has had a luckless few weeks on the side of the garage meant to be occupied by reigning champion Martin, after he suffered multiple fractures in a crash on day one of pre-season testing.

Martin then fractured his wrist in a training accident ahead of the Thai GP, forcing him out of that round and onto the sidelines until at least next month’s Qatar GP.

Aprilia test rider Savadori will fill in for Martin in his absence, though his participation in Sunday’s grand prix is in some doubt after an injury forced him to retire from Saturday’s sprint in Argentina.

The team says Savadori partially dislocated his left shoulder when his RS-GP had a moment exiting a corner in qualifying, which necessitated him taking painkillers to race in the sprint.

However, he pulled into pitlane in the closing stages due to the injury.

He will be assessed on Sunday morning prior to the warm-up by circuit medical staff before a decision on his grand prix participation is confirmed.

A brief statement from Aprilia read: “During Q1, Lorenzo Savadori lost control of the bike on corner exit, causing a twisting injury to his left shoulder, resulting in a subluxation that spontaneously reduced.

“The Italian rider was assessed at the circuit's medical centre, and no bone injuries were found in the affected areas.

“Pain-relieving medication was administered; unfortunately, the symptoms related to the sprain prevented him from finishing the sprint, forcing him to retire six laps before the end.

“Before the warm-up, Savadori will undergo a medical check-up.”

With Martin confirming on Thursday that he will not be racing at the Americas GP in two weeks’ time, Aprilia may elect to rest Savadori on Sunday in order to allow him to recover in time for the COTA event.

Aprilia came away from the sprint in Argentina with a top six result courtesy of Marco Bezzecchi, who qualified his RS-GP ninth.

Trackhouse Aprilia duo Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez struggled further down the pack out of the points in 15th and 16th.