APRILIA MISSES KEY TITLE CHANCES ON FAVOURABLE CIRCUITS

Aprilia arrived at the Indonesian and Australian rounds with a chance to close the gap to championship leader Marc Marquez. Both circuits appeared to suit the RS-GP, but the team left Phillip Island with Jorge Martin injured and trailing Marquez, while Marco Bezzecchi had also lost ground despite winning in Indonesia.

Before Mandalika, Martin led Marquez by two points, 333 to 331, with Bezzecchi on 284. After Phillip Island, Marquez had 365, Martin 355 and Bezzecchi 315. Martin’s deficit was now 10 points, while Bezzecchi was 50 behind.

Aprilia chief Massimo Rivola accepted that the team had failed to make the most of its opportunities. “No, we didn’t exploit these chances at all,” he said, adding that Aprilia had an evident advantage in dry conditions at both tracks.

Mandalika offered a striking example of that potential: Bezzecchi won ahead of Raul Fernandez, Martin and Ai Ogura, giving Aprilia its first sweep of the top four. But the result did not erase points lost earlier in the weekend. Bezzecchi was caught in a first-corner incident in the sprint, while Martin, after taking the lead, had to let Marquez through because his front tyre pressure was too low. A late mistake dropped Martin to fourth. On Sunday, he finished third behind Bezzecchi and Fernandez. Across the weekend, Martin and Marquez each scored 22 points; Bezzecchi gained only three on the Ducati rider.

At Phillip Island, Bezzecchi led a dry practice session in which four Aprilias occupied the top five. Changing weather then complicated the weekend. Bezzecchi’s poor qualifying left him with work to do, and although he recovered in the sprint, he finished fourth, six points behind winner Marquez.

Martin, meanwhile, fought Marquez for the lead, with the pair trading places before Martin crashed heavily at Turn 8 on lap eight. He suffered a broken spoke and his weekend was over. The cancellation of Sunday’s race, prompted by poor visibility and concerns about the rescue helicopter’s operation, prevented Marquez from extending his advantage, but also denied Bezzecchi another chance to score.

“It would have been one more race for me, a chance I could have used,” Bezzecchi said. “We’ll never know how it would have gone. That makes me sad.” He added that he was looking forward to travelling to Malaysia and racing again the following weekend.

Martin’s participation at Sepang remained uncertain. Rivola said surgery did not appear necessary, but described a return the next weekend as very difficult. Sepang is expected to favour Ducati more than the recent circuits, while the following Qatar round was also uncertain because of unrest in the region.

Despite the challenges, Rivola urged the team not to assume that less favourable tracks would necessarily bring poor results. “I want to think positively and believe that even tracks that supposedly aren’t ours can still be good for our points tally,” he said, while acknowledging that Aprilia would not know until it had raced there.