Brittle reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Martin has pulled the ultimate “get out of jail free” card thanks to a contract clause letting him ‘do a runner’ if he’s not a MotoGP hotshot by the French GP.
With the putrid smell of garlic now over the Spanish rider has chosen to ditch his team given he currently has more fully functioning lungs than he does championship points turning Aprilia’s big-money signing into a big-money migraine.
It all started when Martin, who has body foundations made of fine pottery from the Ming Dynasty era, decided pre-season at Sepang was the perfect place to high-side his RS-GP into a double fracture. But, with worries that he’d recover in time for the first race, the outgoing world champion crashed again training on a supermoto, turning his wrist into a jigsaw puzzle. Aprilia, who had already shelled out enough cash to successfully colonise Pluto, were said to be thrilled that they were now watching Jorge collect casts like Pokémon cards.
When Martin, who was held together by hope and bandages, did finally turn up for work in Qatar he ended up crashing on lap 14 and was subsequently steamrolled by Fabio Di Giannantonio racking up an impressive 11 cracked ribs and a collapsed lung.
This has left Aprilia’s season circling the drain, with rookie Ai Ogura outshining their factory flops and the team forced to eat ‘a thin watery vegetable stew that smells suspiciously of earth’ every mealtime to help keep their spiralling bank balance afloat. But until yesterday at least Aprilia knew that this was their low point, and things could only get better…
“Hold my beer” J.Martin
Having been rescued from the depths of embarrassment last season Jorge has seemingly repaid Aprilia for their kindness by abandoning them via a legal loophole – also known as ‘the hero option’. Rumours suggest that Martin will move to Honda on a bike that’s hardly ever sends its riders to hospital…
Aprilia meanwhile are currently staying silent on the issue instead focusing their energy on discovering which team member ever thought signing Marco Bezzecchi would be a good idea.
