Jorge Martin makes progress in track return, Aprilia struggles

Defending world champion Jorge Martin enjoyed a thoroughly successful first day aboard the factory Aprilia RS-GP in Qatar. The Spaniard was upbeat following his comeback Friday that panned out as well he realistically could have hoped. But what might have given him pause for thought – after coming down from the high – was the poor showing by the other three Aprilia riders. His three colleagues kept him company in the lower reaches of the timesheets… despite full fitness and thousands more kilometres of time in the saddle.

Having previously made it clear that he would not be 100% fit and would be easing his way back into competition in Qatar, it was no surprise to see Martin finish his first session back in 20th place, just over two seconds off the pace set by Marc Marquez. In light of his injuries, many expected to see him even further away from the quickest man.

After Martin’s first run in FP1, he received an immediate visit from MotoGP medical director Angel Charte. Although he needed help removing his helmet and gloves, he dismissed the doctor’s enquiries. Martin was more concerned with how to get the most out of his RS-GP, and proceeded to complete a steady session. That was something that had his boss Massimo Rivola smiling.

“The first run was good,” commented the Aprilia CEO during the session. “I was nervous, as I think everybody was, including him! But it was good to see a ready rider. [When Jorge came back to the garage] he said ‘I don’t need you, doctor – we need to talk about technical stuff!’”

In the evening Practice session, where a place in Q2 was theoretically at stake for Martin, the world champion remained close to the back of the field despite joining in the fun with a new soft rear at the end of the session. Once again he could do no better than 20th, with only Augusto Fernandez (Pramac Yamaha) and Somkiat Chantra (LCR Honda) behind him.

Martin was 1.568s off the fastest time of the session, which was set by VR46 Ducati rider Franco Morbidelli. He was however well within a second of 10th-fastest rider and last automatic Q2 participant Johann Zarco (LCR Honda).

Reflecting on the day, Martin said finishing the race on Sunday – which had been a major question mark – might not be out of reach.

“I’m really exhausted from today. It’s really hard to ride a MotoGP for the first day.

“But I feel it wasn’t that bad. The target was to try my physical condition, to try the MotoGP bike, and I was able to do the whole day, so this is already a success. So, yeah, I feel good. I feel we are better than what I expected.

“In the afternoon I was able to do two laps and then I needed to stop. In the evening I was able to do four or five, so I think the step was huge. Now I need to understand how I wake up tomorrow, how I improve on the weekend, and let’s see if we can continue working like this.

“I don’t know if I can race on Sunday. If you had asked me this morning, I would have said it was impossible. Now maybe it’s a possibility. But let’s see how I wake up tomorrow.”

But while it was a case of ‘job done’ for Martin given his limited ambitions, his factory Aprilia team-mate Marco Bezzecchi’s underwhelming effort put the Spaniard’s day into stark perspective. Bezzecchi’s tough start to the season seemed to go from bad to worse on Friday in Qatar, where his lack of speed through the corners almost caught out the following Marc Marquez during Free Practice 1.

Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Bezzecchi’s margin of just over two tenths of a second over his semi-fit and underprepared team-mate raises real concerns about his riding performance. At the same time, it will leave observers wondering how much of Martin’s deficit to the pace-setters here is down to his injury and how much might be down to the bike — which would be a more worrying problem in the long term.

Martin himself admitted to leaving a 10% margin today. That being so, he would probably prefer to see his team-mate and the Trackhouse Aprilias much further up the order. This would give him hope of some potential awaiting him when he is back to full fitness. However, the timesheets after practice made all-round grim reading for the Aprilia brigade: the Trackhouse duo were barely better than Bezzecchi.

Ai Ogura was the best RS-GP, but he was only 15th, a significant three tenths away from even making the top 10. Raúl Fernández was 16th on the second Trackhouse bike, although this was not a major deviation from his usual position in the pecking order.

Ogura can be expected to improve throughout the weekend, much as he did at the previous race in the USA. He is, after all, in his rookie season. It would not be a surprise to see him sneak into Q2 via the Q1 route on Saturday. Most concerning will be factory rider Bezzecchi’s failure to get ahead of independent bikes that performed so modestly.

While there may be an argument that the Aprilia package is simply struggling at Losail, it should be noted that Aleix Espargaro rode the factory bike to the podium at this race last season. Ogura, for one, isn’t buying the idea that there’s a technical mountain to climb.

“Comparing data, where I struggle, where Bez struggles, where Raul struggles…it’s all different,” said the ever-honest Japanese rookie when asked about Aprilia’s dark day. “So I think it’s not from the bike, it’s from the riders.”

Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Martin was in no mood to find fault with the bike either – although nothing would be likely to dampen his spirits after finally getting back on track.

“Before [going out on track] today I was really scared, let’s say, or nervous, because I didn’t know what to expect. The last feeling with the bike [at the Sepang pre-season test] was terrible, so I was really scared to have the same feeling.

“But as soon as I went on the track, already on the first lap, I was just touching with the elbow, I was feeling again, so I’m happy.”

Bezzecchi, who has come in for a fair amount of criticism for his middling performance as stand-in leader of the Aprilia effort in Martin’s absence, did not share the Ogura assessment — unsurprisingly.

“The day was a bit difficult,” he said. “I struggled because we have big problems with instability here, so I’m unable to brake hard. This is a problem that we’ve been having pretty much everywhere, but on this track we are feeling it even more. I need to try and be more fluid, but that’s a bit complicated at the moment.”

However you assess Aprilia’s Friday in Qatar, the Noale factory can only be pleased to have its star new recruit in action at last. Martin’s development input should help both Bezzecchi and the package as a whole move in the right direction.