Aprilia thank under-the-radar hero who helped Jorge Martin

Aprilia have thanked an unheralded hero in their camp who played a key role in Jorge Martin’s return to MotoGP.

Martin qualified 12th, finished the sprint 11th and the grand prix seventh in his comeback from injury.

It was only his second race weekend in Aprilia colours since he won the 2024 MotoGP title on a Ducati. His year has been blighted by injuries.

In his absence - and throughout the wrangling over a possible exit which he has now U-turned away from - Aprilia’s development has caught the eye.

Teammate Marco Bezzecchi won the British MotoGP at Silverstone, and finished on the podium at Assen and Brno. He is the top non-Ducati rider in the MotoGP standings.

Aprilia point to unheralded MotoGP hero

But Jorge Martin’s replacement Lorenzo Savadori has also been called out for his role.

Savadori is Aprilia’s test rider who raced at seven rounds in a row to deputise for the injured Martin.

He was always off the pace of the regular racers, only once finishing above 17th.

But he was an important cog in the machine to develop the bike, allowing Martin to comfortably return on a much better package than he left behind in Qatar in April.

“I want to thank Marco for the job he did, for the effort he put in, for his energy in the first part of the season,” team boss Paolo Bonora told TNT Sports.

“Also Lorenzo Savadori - together they improved the bike which allowed Jorge to be immediately comfortable.”

The Aprilia has established itself as Ducati’s main competition and they have reason to be optimistic for the second half of the season.

“This is a track which we like,” Bonora said in Brno, where Bezzecchi finished as grand prix runner-up.

“In the past we did some good races here. Since Friday, both riders felt immediately good. Their comments were good.

“Jorge’s comments were good despite it being a long time without riding the bike. He felt immediately good, he felt an improvement compared to the bike in Qatar.”

Much of that improvement was steered by Savadori’s efforts - he was not eye-catching during the race weekends, but he helped to lay the foundations which Martin might capitalise on.