2024 MotoGP World Champion Jorge Martin has had a nightmare start to the season in the first tests at Sepang. In less than 24 hours, the Spaniard went from enthusiastic to hospital, suffering multiple fractures following two violent falls. And Aprilia's morale via Massimo Rivola has taken a hit.
Testing begins in Sepang for George Martin took a tragic and unexpected turn. Just 24 hours after expressing his enthusiasm for testing new equipment and adapting to his new machine, the world champion suffered two accidents on the track. In the second incident, a violent highside, Martin landed hard on the Malaysian asphalt, fracturing his right hand and left foot.
Despite the seriousness of the accident, he was lucky not to suffer more serious injuries, but he had to be transferred to the Aurelius Hospital in Nilai, where he remained under observation. Due to his fractures, he will not be able to participate in the rest of the tests and must now return to Spain to be treated by specialists. This start to the test was one of the shortest and most dramatic for the Martinator, a hard blow also for Aprilia.
Massimo Rivola mobilizes Lorenzo Savadori
Massimo rivola, director ofAprilia Racing, spoke to the press with great disappointment: " This is extremely unfortunate. But we can be glad that he was not seriously injured.. » The team must now adapt to this difficult situation, with tests in Thailand on the horizon. Rivola announced that Lorenzo Savadori, test rider, would take over for the test in Thailand, in order to continue the evaluations of the motorcycle. Savadori also put on his leather on the second day to resume testing at Sepang.
With the many tests to be carried out, Rivola stressed on speedweek the need to focus on Marco Bezzecchi and to consider strengthening the team with Savadori. Despite the incident, the boss ofAprilia showed a bit of dark humor, commenting that his goal of getting to the level as quickly as possible in phase 1 had failed: " Today I can say that phase 1 has failed. »
This start to the season promised a lot for Aprilia et George Martin, but this unfortunate turn of events has cast a veil of uncertainty over the next steps.
MotoGP, Sepang J2 Final Test: times
