Dorna intervenes as contract battle lines drawn at Assen
The Jorge Martin and Aprilia saga descended into all-out war at Assen, with the World Champion’s Personal Manager Albert Valera’s public comments eliciting a threat from Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta that the Spaniard may not be allowed to ride next year.
“What we can say is Jorge is free of contract for 2026,” Valera said in his first public statements since the situation blew up in mid-May. “It’s pretty clear for us. He executed the clause he had by contract and we’re just following it. He’s completely open, available and we will see what will happen in the future.”
The clause in question related to the RS-GP’s performance level six races in to 2025. If not in a certain position in the championship, he’d be free to leave for 2026. Yet Aprilia’s argument is the clause should be null and void as the Spaniard wasn’t present to race in those events due to his own mistakes.
“We always wanted to extend that clause to September or October,” Valera explained. “We know the deadline was a bit short. It was a deadline we never wanted to put at that time of the year – we wanted to put it longer. We wanted to give Aprilia more time to (prove) themselves.
“Even now it would be great for Jorge to have more chance to try himself on the bike. If we cannot do that, we did not achieve that outcome, then we had to execute that clause that was taken by contract. Now the situation we’re in, I’d say it would be lovely if he could understand his future as soon as possible so he can focus on Aprilia for the rest of the year.”
It appears both Valera and Martin want the situation resolved as quickly as possible, so they can sign with another team – namely Honda. Yet Aprilia has shown signs of wanting to use anything to hold the Spaniard to his contract. This is now a case of seeing who blinks first.
Valera’s comments led to Ezpeleta wading in to demand both parties come to an agreement… and fast. “As Dorna, MSMA (the constructors’ association) and IRTA (the teams’ association), we will not accept the registration in the world championship of any rider who is not free, either through a judge’s ruling or through having reached an agreement with the other party,” he said at Assen.
“Aprilia says it has a contract with Martin, while his agent, Valera, says he is free. For us to accept (an entry), the two parties have to come to an agreement, or a judge will decide on the case.”
Valera and Ezpeleta’s comments forced Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola to comment, and express his desire to keep Martin. “The rider is under contract with us. He is not free from Aprilia. The rider cannot go anywhere.
“We took him to fight for the World championship and still I think that we would be in that position this year and we would love to be also in that position next year. Marco is showing that it’s possible to do it. So with him, I think even more. And that’s it.
We will do everything that is in our hand to protect the company.”
What are the options from here? “There are only two options,” he explained. “As I say, we find an agreement and we need to sit down and speak seriously. Or go to the Court. We are ready to do both and we will do everything we need to again protect the company.”
When it was put to Rivola there was little sense in keeping a rider against his will, he continued, “For sure is not a comfortable situation. For sure we got him for good reason and I think he chose us for performance reason. And we showed that the performance still is there. In the past, we saw a rider unhappy about the company/the boss that fight for the world title for many years. So let’s see. Luckily, we don’t have children!”
