There are the championship calculations, the medical reports, and the official statements. And then there are the words that betray emotion. At Phillip Island, Massimo Rivola didn't just comment on Jorge Martin's fracture. The Aprilia boss expressed an almost personal wish: that their shared adventure wouldn't end with another injury, at the very moment when the Spanish rider seemed to be regaining his full form.
Sepang: Rivola brutally dashes hopes
While Paolo Bonora hinted at a possible return in Malaysia, Massimo Rivola was considerably more reserved. When asked by Motorsport.com about the chances of seeing Martin back in action at Sepang , his response offered little room for optimism: " Very difficult. Very, very difficult ."
The diagnosis, however, presents reassuring elements. The fracture of the right distal radius is not displaced, the suspicion of an ulna fracture has been ruled out, and no surgical intervention is planned.
Martin will continue his recovery without immediately returning to Spain. But being present in the paddock and riding a MotoGP bike are two very different things. " On an Aprilia, yes, but in a leathers suit, I don't know ," Rivola sums up . The Italian thus refuses to turn a medical improvement into a sporting promise.
Rivola: “ Our story deserves a better ending »
However, it is elsewhere that his intervention takes on a particular dimension. " I think the story between Aprilia and Jorge deserves to end in the best possible way, victory or defeat, but not with him injured ."
This statement sums up a relationship marked by difficulties, injuries, and a complicated sporting adaptation. Rivola points out that Martin had to gradually learn an RS-GP that his teammates had already mastered.
On Friday, he was still lacking some automatic reflexes. But his ability to learn and immediately regain speed impressed his boss. At Phillip Island, Rivola even believed that Martin could have beaten Marc Marquez . " He rode a champion's race because he is a champion ."
Behind the frustration of the fall, Aprilia therefore wants to preserve something more important than a result: the possibility of a conclusion worthy of their collaboration.
The Australian cancellation: a poisoned gift?
The weather offered Martin an unexpected reprieve . After his retirement in the Sprint, the Spaniard had lost the championship lead. But the cancellation of the Grand Prix prevented Marquez from increasing his ten-point advantage.
Rivola acknowledges, however, that his team also missed an opportunity. Marco Bezzecchi had a particularly competitive Aprilia and could have hoped for a significant result.
The Italian boss, moreover, refuses to rule him out of the title fight as long as the math still gives him a chance. As for the decision to cancel, he respects it, while acknowledging that a reorganization of the program might have been worth considering. " Perhaps we underestimated the helicopter problem ."
Aprilia faces a relentless end to the season
Rivola finally broadens his analysis to include the increasing number of races and sprints. He recalls the numerous injuries that occurred from the very introduction of the format and emphasizes that drivers never voluntarily give up a few thousandths of a second.
The spectacle, therefore, comes at a physical cost . A reality particularly keenly felt by Martin , already severely tested this season. And despite the difficulties, Rivola remains convinced: Aprilia now possesses a machine capable of competing with Ducati on the most demanding circuits. The challenge now is to enable its main title contender to capitalize on it.
So, what do we remember?
- Sepang: Rivola considers Martin's return extremely difficult.
- Aprilia: The Italian boss wants a dignified conclusion to their shared history.
- Championship: The Australian cancellation preserves Martin's chances, without resolving his medical problem.
Aprilia has built a motorcycle capable of competing for the title. But for Massimo Rivola , the ultimate victory might be seeing Jorge Martin finish this adventure standing on his bike, and not in a medical center.
