Neil Hodgson has praised Aprilia star Jorge Martin for his “ability” to be “inch perfect” from the start after winning the sprint race at Le Mans at the 2026 French Grand Prix.
Martin He entered the 2026 season Aprilia After joining Noale factory last year. But Saturday at Le Mans saw the Spaniard win his second Sprint victory of the season so far, as he won the Sprint from P8 on the grid and won by 1.107s.
Unlike his first Sprint win of the year at the Circuit of the Americas, Martin Sprint wins at Le Mans This Saturday just came at his pace from the start. Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia had no response to Martin’s pace after the Italian lost the Lehman Sprints lead off the line.
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Neil Hodgson praised George Martin for finding his ‘limit’ from the start.
Aprilia saw Martin won the COTA Sprint Final round action at the United States Grand Prix this March at Bagnaia. The 28-year-old took the honors in Texas when he opted to run on the soft tire, which made for a huge speed difference compared to the Italian’s medium rear tire.
Read more: Jorge Martin set a new record for the worst MotoGP title defense in history
His incredible start made all the difference for Martin at Le Mans, however, as he flew into P4 before turning 1 on the grid from the middle of the third row. Martin took the brave pillion and dived to the outside at turn 3.
Hodgson He thinks Martin’s ability to make quick starts and gain momentum immediately was crucial to the Aprilia star’s victory in the Le Mans Sprint. However, the victory was still surprising when he qualified in P8, although in practice he looked the best on the Aprilia.
“He was inch perfect,” Hodgson said. TNT Sports 2 (09/05, 14:26). His ability to go straight to the limit on those opening rounds has always been there.
“That’s why he’s won a lot of sprint races. He looked good in FP1, but[they]showed him in FP1, and I thought, ‘This is as good as I’ve seen Aprilia look.’
I thought (he might take the stick) because of what I saw earlier in the weekend and when he got on the third row I was thinking, ‘Well, he’s not going to win this race.’
Michael Laverty thinks George Martin will regret signing for Yamaha at his current level
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With two Sprint wins in the first five rounds of the season in the bag; Michael Laverty Martin thinks he will now regret his reported move to Yamaha next year, leaving Aprian. It is widely believed to be. Martin has agreed to sign with Yamaha for 2027. Come back in February.
Laverty (09/05, 14:37) said: “He did it before at Pramac. He got the number one plate, (then) he went to Aprilia. Could he do it again at Aprilia and go to Yamaha with another championship?”
“In terms of points, it’s getting very close, but it’s about how comfortable I am on the bike, for me, it looks very good with him now, and before those injuries, the old George Martin is back.
The comments from Massimo Rivola suggest that he is not a done deal going to Yamaha. But who knows?
“Obviously these decisions are being made very early. We had expected to wait until this point until we got back to Europe, but we believe the contracts were signed probably in Round 2 or 3. So it would be a bit of a shame if it went out early in the current form.”
Yamaha moved quickly to convince Martin to introduce 850cc rules the following year after their star rider. Fabio Quatararo has agreed to join Honda for 2027.. Both moves are considered an open secret in the paddock, although neither deal has been made public.
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