Rubbing is racing, but what's going on between Aprilia teammates Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi goes well beyond that. For anyone who missed it, Martin tucked the front into turn one at the Hungarian GP and caused a five-bike incident, taking out three other riders, one being Bezzecchi. This incident isn't unusual in MotoGP, particularly at the Hungarian GP, but the way the team manager, Massimo Rivola, responded to the incident was.
A show of unity between team members and riders is the norm in MotoGP, particularly from managers toward riders. But when Rivola spoke to the press, it was far from a unified front. After the incident, the Italian team manager said, "A world champion, I think he cannot do a mistake like that... You spoke about the penalty - maybe, sincerely, we are speaking so much about the safety, I would not have disagreed if the penalty was even stronger and harsher than that. Because the first corner is dangerous and these guys are risking already everywhere, and if we put extra risk it's not necessary."
