Aprilia was made to “look stupid” by three of its riders colliding with each other in the opening lap melee at the Hungarian Grand Prix, according to motorsport boss Massimo Rivola.
Championship leader Marco Bezzecchi, team-mate Jorge Martin and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez all retired at the start of Sunday’s race at the Balaton Park Circuit, leaving Aprilia with just one contender in the race.
The incident was triggered by factory rider Martin getting out of shape at Turn 1 and hitting the deck, with his out-of-control bike also taking out Bezzecchi. The latter, in turn, collided with Fernandez, Fermin Aldeguer and Fabio di Giannantonio – with the last-named the only rider to emerge from the wreckage and finish the race.
Martin immediately apologised to Bezzecchi after both riders had to visit the medical centre for check-ups, with scans clearing them of any fractures.
However, the repercussions of the incident were immense, with Ducati’s Marc Marquez dealing Aprilia with only its third grand prix defeat of 2026, and Martin picking up a double long lap penalty for the Czech GP.
Asked if the opening turn at the Hungarian venue was too dangerous, Rivola said the ultimate responsibility of the incident rested with Martin.
“If we go to Barcelona, we say that it’s too dangerous at the first corner,” he quipped. “When you are on Sunday, you know the track layout and the grip condition very well.
“I think that at the first corner, everybody should take it a bit more easy.
“Then the fact that we are also unlucky that when we crash, we have another Aprilia or even two in the middle, and we look so stupid.
“The point is that when you know that the conditions are there, take it more easy.”
Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing, Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Photo by: MotoGP
Rivola explains Martin’s error
Martin and Bezzecchi were involved in a similar crash at the start of last year’s Motegi sprint race, with the Spaniard suffering a collarbone injury in the impact.
Rivola explained that while Martin simply missed the braking point in Japan, his mistake in Hungary had more to do with the way he applied brakes at the resurfaced Turn 1.
“The outcome is similar, but the mistake is quite different,” he said. “Last year, he overbraked and it was another reaction. This time, I don’t want to say a small mistake, but he didn’t behave with the front brake as he should have done in that part of the track. That is quite different from Japan. So, a smaller mistake, but the same outcome. For us, even worse.”
Asked if he could accept the multi-bike crash as a racing accident, he added: “I have to accept it. It’s difficult to accept, but there’s no other way. First of all, I would like to apologise to all the riders involved. I think the good aspect of today is that no one was really badly injured, because the risk, you saw the images, the risk was super high.
“What is frustrating to me is that it was one of our riders who made that kind of mistake at the first corner – and we must avoid that.”
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