Slowest Aprilia: Why Jorge Martin (11th) thinks the problem lies with the bike

Just 11th in Friday afternoon’s qualifying: Jorge Martin narrowly missed out on direct qualification for Q2 at the Czech Grand Prix. The Aprilia works rider was just 0.011 seconds off the time set by his team-mate Raul Fernandez, who secured the crucial tenth place. This meant the reigning MotoGP World Champion finished outside the qualifying positions for Q2 and was also the slowest of the four Aprilia riders – albeit by only a narrow margin.

Friday was anything but smooth sailing for Martin. As early as the morning, the Spaniard lost valuable practice time due to a technical problem after being forced to pull his RS-GP over prematurely. Nevertheless, he drew a positive conclusion regarding his physical condition.

Aggressive and spectacular, but not fast enough

It was striking just how hard Martin had to fight on his Aprilia. Whilst his team-mates were clocking up their laps as if on rails, Martin’s riding style seemed significantly more aggressive. “To be honest, I had a lot of fun on the bike. I was at the limit the whole time. Physically, I feel much better than I’d expected, and that’s really positive,” explained the injured Spaniard. “I don’t feel any limitations at all on the bike. Off the track, of course, I’m in pain, but on the track everything’s fine.”

The Aprilia rider therefore does not believe his fitness was the reason for missing out on Q2. Instead, he once again complained about the lack of feedback from the front end, a problem that has been plaguing him for several race weekends now.

Zwangspause für Martin nach Defekt im FP1

Foto: Gold and Goose

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No feel for the front end: a problem with the bike?

“Throughout the entire practice session, I had very little feel for the front end. I think there was a problem with the front tyre. That caused me to lose confidence,” Martin explained. When it came to the decisive laps in qualifying, he therefore lacked that final bit of conviction. “I did improve with every run, but I didn’t have that spark to really push. That’s why I couldn’t make it through to Q2.”

What was particularly striking was that whilst Martin was struggling on his Aprilia, his team-mates at the front were setting the pace. Ai Ogura and Marco Bezzecchi were leading the way. “When I see how fast the other Aprilia riders are going, I’m sure there was something wrong with my bike,” he remarked.

When asked whether it was the same problem as recently at Mugello and Balaton Park, Martin replied unequivocally: “Yes, this has been going on for a few races now. It was like that at Mugello, then at Balaton Park, and now here again – a similar problem at the front. I don’t really understand why that is. We need to analyse the data and find out exactly what’s happening.”

Intensive long-lap training caused a stir

Martin attracted further attention with his numerous laps of the long-lap loop. The Aprilia rider must serve two long-lap penalties in Sunday’s Grand Prix after causing the serious crash at the start two weeks ago at Balaton Park.

On several occasions, the Spaniard tried out different lines, driving over the green area in the process. This was due to an initial misunderstanding regarding the track boundaries.

“I’d been told I was allowed to ride onto the green area, so I gave it a go. Afterwards, a few teams complained about it and then I was told that it wasn’t allowed after all,” explained Martin.

The penalty itself, however, isn’t causing him too much concern. “I hope I’ll only lose about 1.5 seconds per long lap. It’s no big deal. I actually think it’s one of the fastest long-lap sections on the entire calendar.”

That’s why Martin took almost every opportunity to clean up the line and gain further experience. “It was really very dirty this morning. It’s getting a bit better with every lap. On every in-lap and out-lap, I drive through the long-lap section, and by now it feels much better than it did this morning.”

Despite missing out on Q2, Martin is optimistic about the rest of the weekend. He says his physical condition is improving day by day. “I’m feeling better every day and I’m really optimistic. I think that if everything goes well and I don’t crash again, I can be back at 100 per cent in Assen. That’s why I hope there won’t be any further limitations this weekend.”