Aprilia Racing boss Massimo Rivola is confident Aprilia can bounce back from its Hungarian nightmare and admitted his frustration at Jorge Martin’s mistake. The title contender took down four other riders, including teammate and title leader Marco Bezzecchi at Balaton Park’s first turn and Aprilia satellite runner Raul Fernandez.
“What is frustrating to me is that it was one of our riders who made that kind of mistake at the first corner that we must avoid,” said Rivola.
This was the second time in under a year Martin had caused such a crash, after he took down Bezzecchi at the first turn of last year’s Japanese Grand Prix. Rivola was keen to draw a distinction between the two.
“I think the outcome is similar, but the mistake is quite different. Last year he outbraked [himself] and it was another reaction. This time it was a small mistake. He didn’t behave with the front brake as he should have done in that part of the track at corner one. That is quite different from Japan. A smaller mistake, but the same outcome. For us, even worse.”
One minor crumb of comfort was Martin’s reaction. “The first thing he did was immediately go to Marco and all the crews to apologize to them. You know, when it’s done, it’s done. At least it’s a good gesture.”
And Aprilia Racing’s CEO is confident we will witness a reaction at Brno this weekend. “Knowing Marco, I’m sure that they will fight for the victory in the next two races to show that it was just a bad day.”
