Test rider hints at Aprilia development for Jorge Martin return
Jorge Martin is expected to return in Qatar
Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori says the bike Jorge Martin will return to when he makes his MotoGP comeback has been developed “closer to his demands” since he last rode it.
Reigning world champion Jorge Martin has only put 90 laps on the RS-GP since last November’s post-season test in Barcelona, where he sampled the 2024 bike and the 2025 prototype.
On the 2025 RS-GP, Martin managed just 13 laps on day one of the Sepang test before a crash left him with multiple fractures and forced him to miss the remainder of the MotoGP pre-season.
Further injury prior to the Thai Grand Prix has seen him sidelined since, though he passed a medical check on Wednesday which puts him further on course to make his long-awaited Aprilia debut at next week’s Qatar GP.
Martin made his first appearance at a grand prix weekend in America, which was organised as a team building exercise.
Savadori, who has been deputising for Martin since Thailand, says this experience will have been good for the Spaniard to understand where the bike has changed since he last rode it.
“Different than the one he tried in Barcelona and Malaysia, but developing and closer to his demands,” Savadori is reported by GPOne as saying when asked about the bike Martin will return to.
“On Saturday we updated him and, with the engineers, showed him the telemetry, so he knows everything.
“Will it have been useful to spend a weekend in the pit? Actually, as a rider seeing other race, it hurts like hell, but it was good for everyone.”
Under the current concession regulations, Savadori is able to make up to six wildcard appearances this season.
But he admits he isn’t sure what his racing plans will be with Aprilia going forward.
“I don’t know,” he said about the prospect of wildcards.
“The team and the constructor know how much I love racing, but I still enjoyed working with the Spanish team and with Daniele Romagnoli, who I knew only by sight and whom I got on with very well.
“Even though I was injured in Argentina, it was a crescendo.”
