Aprilia gives Marco Bezzecchi much-needed…

Marco Bezzecchi's factory Aprilia team colleagues Paolo Bonora and Jorge Martin have offered the beleaguered rider a vote of confidence despite his latest major setback.

The Italian was injured in a qualifying crash at the Sachsenring this morning, ruling him out of the ongoing German Grand Prix weekend.

Having been on top of the world when he won his home grand prix at Mugello in May, Bezzecchi has bled points over the following four race weekends with a dramatic series of mishaps.

These incidents, which include being taken out of the Hungarian Grand Prix by his team-mate Martin, a race ban for striking a marshal and a crash in the Dutch Grand Prix, have led to him losing what was a comfortable early-season lead in the world championship.

Bezzecchi, who will undergo surgery in Italy tomorrow, is now 11 points behind Martin - with Sunday's German GP still to come. But Aprilia team manager Bonora was keen to keep things in perspective when speaking on the MotoGP world feed on Saturday.

"I'm so convinced that Marco is the same Marco Bezzecchi [we saw at] Mugello. This is something that makes us very positive," he said.

Mugello podium (Photo by: Mirco Lazzari GP / Getty Images)

"I'd like to say to him every time, 'Remember that you are the same Marco Bezzecchi who won in such a great way at Mugello'.'"

Bonora admitted that the impending summer break comes at a good time for Bezzecchi, both in terms of physical recovery and a mental reset.

"We are lucky that we have one month of summer break," he added. "This is something that is positive, to recover the energy, to recharge the batteries and to start in the correct way for the second part of the season.

"We [are sending] him a big hug for sure. He knows that the whole team is around him. We know his energy; we know our strength. So, it's necessary to be very positive and take the opportunity of this summer break to recover the current mood for the second part of the season."

Martin also said he believed in Bezzecchi's ability to rebound from this trough. Although the pair do not have the best of relationships among team-mates, particularly following the Balaton Park incident, Martin's own comeback from his 2025 injury nightmare could serve as a template for Bezzecchi.

"I want to send all my strength to Marco one more time because it's not nice to see him in this difficult period," said Martin after Saturday's sprint.

"But this is racing; he knows how to recover from injuries. Because for sure, if you take profit of bad times, as I said before, you can come back stronger with a better mentality.

"He's a really strong rider and he will be in the fight."