Written by Isha Reshmi Mohan, Edited by Rohan Brown
As announced ahead of the Thai Grand Prix, Jorge Martín was confirmed to miss out on both the Thai and Argentina Grands Prix. But Marco Bezzecchi has managed to show a glimpse of Aprilia’s potential during the season opening weekend at Buriram.
Bezzecchi’s performance
Bezzecchi is getting accustomed to his new bike, finishing fifth after a major shift from VR46 - proof that the test sessions paid off. However, his momentum took a hit later on Friday when he collided with Pecco in Turn 3 during the Practice session.
But the Italian rider said he was happy with his performance. It was his first time pushing the bike a bit too hard, and while the crash could have been avoided, he ultimately takes away a positive lesson from the experience.
He also claims that he feels confident with the bike enough to be able to experiment on it, also having found a “different condition” from the test sessions he had to adapt to make the most of the bike anyway before moving ahead to the practice and qualifying sessions on Saturday.
But things didn’t go as planned, as Bezzecchi suffered his second crash of the weekend during Qualifying, sliding off his bike at Turn three 3 and ending up in ninth place.
Hopefully, the bike’s overall performance highlights Aprilia’s potential and proves manageable for Jorge Martín to adapt to and maximize once he’s fit to return to the track.
Lorenzo Savadori replaces Martín
Following Jorge Martín's accident at the Sepang test, it was confirmed a week before the season opener that he would not be able to race at Buriram. Aprilia later extended his absence to include the Argentina GP.
As for Buriram, Lorenzo Savadori who is no stranger to the MotoGP world, having previously competed for Aprilia in 2021 - has stepped in for the world champion during his absence.
Bezzecchi couldn't break into the points in the Saturday sprint, finishing down in 12th as the lead Aprilia on the road. Stand-in teammate Savadori finished last of the runners in the classification, down in 20th, 32 seconds off the pace of race winner Marc Márquez.
The duo will be looking for a better outing in Sunday's 26-lap main race, looking to open their account at the season opener.
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