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No one expected to see the MotoGP championship start without the world champion on the grid, least of all Massimo Rivola. While Martin's injury at Sepang had been a tough blow to take, the second one in training before leaving for Thailand ran the risk of taking him out of action completely."This is the time to push for what we want to have, not for what we don't have," the Aprilia Racing CEO sought solace in folk wisdom.
How did you hear about Martin's injury?
"We had spoken earlier at lunchtime and he was quite positive. Then he called me in the evening, and as soon as I heard the tone of his voice, I knew he had crashed. I told him to think only of himself, we would take care of everything else."
How do you think these two injuries are affecting him mentally?
"Clearly today he is down in the dumps, that's normal, however, he is a fighter, a gladiator. I'm sure he's thinking about racing tomorrow riding with his teeth, but it's time to tell him to take his time, and not to make mistakes. We will think about the championship in the future, right now the priority is his health. I'd rather lose points, but have a 100 percent Jorge when he comes back. Also because the other riders have already done 2,500 km in testing and will do another 600 km at each GP: Martin has lost all that, patience, he must have a long-term vision."
When do you expect to see Martin back on the track?
"This is the main question for us as well. He will definitely not even race in Argentina because the condition of his left hand is not good at the moment. As Dr. Mir confirmed to us, the operation went well, this made us breathe a sigh of relief, but we should not think about his return. The scaphoid is the most complicated part."
Is there no rush?
"Jorge will only come back when he is fully fit, we don't want to take any risks or make mistakes that have happened in the past. I prefer to look at the new Aprilia era with our two riders in the long term rather than the short term."
Are you thinking of banning riders from training with certain types of bikes?
"No, because in the end they know their limits better than we do. Jorge had told me about this test on Monday, before leaving for Thailand the next day, it was just to check the mobility of his hand after the operation and the condition of his foot. It was a shakedown of his body, he needed to do it before getting on a beast like the MotoGP bike. I don't regret giving him permission to do that test."
How does Aprilia's season change now?
"We have a Marco Bezzecchi in great shape. He did an excellent job in testing and I expect him to do the same in this race weekend. I think Marco has gained confidence, he seems to be doing well in the factory team and he has done a good job together with Savadori, their comments are very similar. That is exactly what we have to do now also to show Jorge what he will find when he comes back. How does our season change? While in the winter we started out very ambitious, now we will have to revise our plans a little, but we know what racing is like. Balance sheets are done at the end."
Do you think the RS-GP has improved enough this winter?
"Yes, and in many aspects: engine, electronics, aerodynamics, chassis. We are quite happy with it. The Trackhouse team has also been halved, with Raul missing the Sepang tests and being here not at 100 percent. As far as we have also seen from Ogura, the bike is good and allows even a rookie to make fast times."
