Martin Ruled
Out of Austin
J
orge Martin made his first pub-
lic appearance on Thursday
since seriously damaging his left
wrist. The reigning World Cham
-
pion made a surprise appearance
in the press conference at the
Argentina GP, which he joined via
a video call.
He revealed he will not race in
Austin as he "struggles to re
-
cover" from the multiple fractures
to his left wrist. "I'm really suffer-
ing; it's not my moment," said the
Spaniard. "I'm struggling to recover as fast as I
would like. I won't be in Austin. I would like to be
there, but I won't be racing. I don't know if I can
be also in Qatar. I would like to make some kind
of test before coming back to racing because
I'm not feeling really good."
Asked to offer some advice for his compa
-
triot, Marc Marquez agreed with the decision
to not rush a comeback. "It's a smart decision,"
he said. "Austin is a very tricky circuit for the
physical condition. But keep going, Jorge, from
one day to another, you will feel better, and we're
waiting for you here in the racetrack."
Neil Morrison
WIND
IN THE
P36
Unfortunately, you won't be seeing
the number one at COTA.
Aprilia Anxious
to Allow Martin
to Test
A
prilia revealed it is working to allow
Martin to test its RS-GP before making a
comeback. Current rules forbid full-time Mo
-
toGP riders from testing their machines away
from race weekends and official tests.
Aprilia team manager Paolo Bonora
explained the factory is pushing to allow an
amendment for Martin after the Spaniard
amassed just 13 laps of running on the RS-
GP before ruling himself out of testing.
"It's a very good idea," he said. "It's not only
for us. We talked about this many times in
the last years. There were many times when
riders came back to the track, and after one
or two laps, they canceled the weekend, and
the team had one less rider. We think it's
a very good option for everybody. It's also
something we can do to improve the show."
Asked when he'd like Martin to test the RS-
GP, he said, "Before Qatar, maybe in Misano."
Neil Morrison
Paolo Bonora believes it's fair to allow
Jorge Martin to have a private test before
returning to MotoGP competition.
