Aprilia Racing Close to the Podium in the Brno Sprint Race

The sprint race at the Brno Circuit returned positive feedback for Aprilia Racing. Marco Bezzecchi had a Q2 of ups and downs when, just a few minutes from the end, he crashed with no consequences on turn 1. The Italian rider was still able to clinch the fourth spot on the starting grid. In the sprint race, Bezzecchi had contact with Quartararo on the second lap, breaking his left wing, damaging the left fork wing, and dropping back to seventh place. At that point, the Italian rider began a decisive comeback ride which took him to a fourth-place finish, missing the podium by a hair.

It was also a positive Saturday for Jorge Martín, who took the twelfth place in Q2. In the sprint race, the Spanish rider had an exceptional start, making up a number of positions and settling into seventh by the end of the first lap. Martín finished the sprint race eleventh, which is an encouraging result considering the down time of over three months due to the injury he suffered in Qatar.

Also worth a mention is the performance by Trackhouse MotoGP Team’s Raúl Fernández, who went through to Q2 thanks to his time in Q1, earning the sixth spot on the grid – his best qualifying result of the season so far. The Spanish rider then finished the sprint race sixth, which is also his best sprint result this season.

MARCO BEZZECCHI
“The sprint race went well because I had a good pace and I made a good comeback ride, so I am pleased with the result. Unfortunately, the contact with Fabio was a mistake that complicated things. To be honest, I didn’t expect it at all, because I saw that he was going wide, so I made my turn and then he rightly came back to his line, so I touched him. I’m sorry about that. Unfortunately, I broke the left wing, and the bike suffered because of that, but the pace was good, so we have a lot of positive things that we can be pleased about.”

JORGE MARTÍN
“I felt good, although I think I made a few mistakes in qualifying, maybe in terms of concentration and partially due to the yellow flags. Starting twelfth obviously doesn’t help, but I knew that I would be able to do a good start. At a certain point in the sprint race I was sixth, and from there I tried to put in some miles and get to know the bike better. I saw some clear areas where we need to improve in view of Sunday. In the opening laps, I felt comfortable, even to be able to push harder. Now we just need to get to know and understand the bike’s limits, and that is exactly what I did. So, I’m pleased, and we are doing a good job. I’m extremely happy and grateful to be here racing.”

FABIANO STERLACCHINI
“It was a rather positive day, despite a few setbacks in qualifying with Marco – undoubtedly conditioned by the crash on his second run. Jorge also had some difficulties, with the various yellow flags. However, I must say that Marco’s start was good, whereas Jorge’s was exceptional, managing to remedy the qualifying results straight away. We are pleased with the performance of both riders and also with Raúl’s good performance, which supports the latest upgrades we have added. The rear and front tyre management conditions will change a bit for Sunday, so we’ll be evaluating some modifications in order to be as ready as possible for the long race.”

credit: Aprilia Racing