Jorge Martín missed almost the entire MotoGP pre-season due to injury, completing fewer than 20 laps on the first day of testing in Sepang. Having not raced since November and needing to adapt to a new bike – the Aprilia – after recovering from serious injuries, his team’s CEO, Massimo Rivola, believes it would be ideal for the Spaniard to test a MotoGP bike before returning to competition.
This idea would need unanimous approval from the other manufacturers, as current regulations do not allow teams with Aprilia’s concession level to conduct private tests with their main riders. Hervé Poncharal, owner of Red Bull KTM Tech3, addressed the topic.
Speaking to GPOne.com, the Frenchman agreed with the Noale-based team’s perspective: ‘A MotoGP team manager doesn’t face this kind of problem often. But we are dealing with a highly professional sport, and our bikes are high-performance machines. That’s why I agree with Massimo Rivola’s proposal’.
However, Poncharal – like his LCR Honda’s counterpart Lucio Cecchinello – believes that any changes should only take effect next season: ‘A regulation change requires a unanimous decision within the MSMA [manufacturers’ association]. But there has never been a vote among manufacturers on this matter for 2025. So, we cannot have a rule change during the 2025 season. […]. But that doesn’t mean the existing regulation has to remain in place forever’.