Aprilia share what Jorge Martin said inside the garage to rally his engineers

Aprilia team boss Paolo Bonora has revealed more details of the meeting reigning MotoGP world champion Jorge Martin held with his crew prior to the Czech Grand Prix.

The Spaniard made his long-awaited return to racing last weekend at Brno, having been absent through injury since April’s Qatar Grand Prix.

Jorge Martin did so off the back of a contract dispute with Aprilia while he was not racing, with the 2024 champion ultimately confirming he will remain with the brand for 2026.

During a press conference on Thursday at Brno, Martin said he had no regrets nor any need to apologise to his team over the contract dispute.

Bonora revealed during the weekend that Martin held a meeting with his team on Thursday evening, and has offered more details of what was said in an interview with TNT.

“On Thursday Jorge held a short meeting with his side of the garage, his team members,” Bonora said.

“He wants to bring them inside his emotions.

“He was clear: ‘Please, forget, we will look only to the future, we want to join this team together, everybody needs to bring all of their effort and energy, as I will do’.

“This was a very good speech. All the team members waited for him without any doubts or problems.”

Martin qualified 12th at the Czech Grand Prix, finished 11th in the sprint and went on to take the chequered flag in the main race in seventh.

Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola hailed this as a “special comeback” on Sunday.

Bonora echoed this, adding: “It was a very special moment, a special weekend.

“There is something for us which is so important because Jorge joining the team gave us extra motivation.

“Now we have two strong and talented riders inside the garage. With the future clear, it is nice to plan the next development.

“We are so happy to have Jorge with Marco [Bezzecchi] inside the garage.”

Martin will now have three weeks to process the Brno weekend before MotoGP returns from its summer break in Austria.

Aprilia felt this, as well as the less physical nature of Brno, made the Czech Grand Prix the ideal return date for him.

“We thought about it,” Bonora said.

“Before the medical evaluation one month ago, we were thinking ‘when is the correct time to rejoin MotoGP?’

“We think this is the best moment. Because he has time to evaluate his condition after this race, and to prepare for the next part of the season.

“We thought Sachsenring was too physical for him. We preferred a more fluent corner style, like this one. We think we made a good plan.”