English
Italiano
Surprisingly, on the first day of activity in the Jerez de La Frontera paddock, Massimo Rivola appeared before the press. The Aprilia boss obviously devoted a good part of his speech to briefing the media about the health status of the unfortunate Martin, who ruinously crashed and was run over during the Qatar GP and is now recovering with eleven rib fractures.
"The first good news was when Jorge could leave the hospital to go to the hotel. The other good news is that on Saturday he will be able to fly back to Madrid with a medical flight. I think from there he will be able to start his recovery surrounded by his loved ones, although anyway his dad Angel and girlfriend Maria have been in Doha with him, but certainly being at home helps. In Madrid they will do some checks at the Ruber Internacional Hospital. After the checks we start knowing what is the real situation and get maybe an idea of the recovery time. For the scaphoid it looked like we had to wait two or three months, but instead it was much quicker. So now we will see," were his words.
Coming already from two consecutive injuries for Martinator the mental aspect could play a crucial role. "Not knowing when he will be able to come back, I'm worried about the psychological aspect as much as the physical one. It was a hard blow for him, yet he has so much heart, so much energy and such big balls, which makes me optimistic. He is a champion not by accident," he said.
Starting tomorrow on the track with Bezzecchi will be Savadori again. To those who have said that he is not up to the job, the Italian manager replied, "The opportunity with Lorenzo is to develop the bike slowly, so that the Spaniard, when he returns, can find it in order. What is important at the moment is that whoever rides it knows all about it and has recently tested it. Sava himself the more he rides it the more he has a chance to give feedback since as soon as he tests something he passes it on to Bez, who today has the whole weight of the team on his shoulders, to get his approval. On the one hand it is true we have to give up the number 1, on the other hand we can speed up the development process. Considering that the reigning world champion chose to come to us means that the Italian has done a good job so far."
The Noale-based manufacturer had asked for Martin to be given a chance to test before taking to the track in Qatar, but the request was not approved. "I have raised this point and we will discuss it because I think there is every reason to review the rule. It could be useful for any rider, I'm thinking for example of Miguel Oliveira who is also skipping races and could be helped by the opportunity to get on the bike first. Today you can be as trained as you want, but MotoGP is MotoGP, as it is very challenging in terms of physical effort," he asserted.
Turning his mind back to the incident that caused the problem for the Spaniard, Rivola explained, "He went long at Turn 12. There is a kerb for cars there and then there is asphalt. That's how it went. With the grass it would have been an almost banal slide. When you race at the same track as F1, it's difficult to pretend too much. I remember once arguing with the then Circus race director Charlie Whiting that putting tarmac on the run-offs is contrary to safety, as with gravel or grass it discourages you from using all the usable space, but, as I said, in the balance between F1 and MotoGP, F1 decides!. Motorcycle racers must therefore be more careful. "
On how to behave in the coming months toward the reigning world champion, he then said, "Now, as Aprilia, the only thing we have to do is treat him like a son and welcome him when he is ready. We love him and will stand by him. It may sound paradoxical to claim that we are in no hurry, but his return will depend only on the outcome of the clinical investigations. Was his return to Lusail rushed? No, I think it was the right time and even the doctors agreed. He made a mistake, but until the mistake he was handling the speed well and in fact he was going slower."
When asked what he expects from Aleix Espargaro, in action as a wild card riding the RC213V he said, "From Andorra he came here on his bike. We hope he remembers that he is now a cyclist and no longer a rider. Joking aside together we have built some beautiful pages together and if Jorge is here it is also thanks to him. Personally I don't believe in luck and bad luck, but lately I have been reconsidering since everything is going wrong, however I always like to look at the positive aspects, as crying is pointless. We have the opportunity to do more testing with Savadori and we will take advantage of it. Going back to Aleix I think he will be very competitive, so they will have to worry about the other Honda riders."
Finally a judgment on Marco's conduct he concluded, "We are happy with him, he has a top 5 race pace and makes good overtakes, he just has to improve in qualifying. The question is whether by starting further ahead he will be able to fight for better positions."
