I try and give folks not just the benefit of the doubt, but also a few opportunities to make good on showing me who they really are. I give them all the rope they'd need, as they're adults and can make up their own minds. Most people don't ever get to the end of that line. But once you've reached it, once it's well around your neck and the rope is fast becoming taught with your legs dangling, well, that's when I start to get petty.
I'm nice until I'm absolutely not, and the switch ain't happening due to my side of the relationship.
That's why, after the colossal bullshittery caused by MotoGP's Jorge Martin and his manager, Albert Valera, over the last six months about whether or not they'd be breaking his contract with Aprilia, and subsequently now deciding to return to the team next season, I'd kill his contract at the end of the year, but not tell him until the final race. I mean, he just said he has no regrets over how he's conducted himself in this whole saga, even though MotoGP fans had basically turned on him every time a new point of order arose from his camp.
He's made his bed; he should lie in it, and so should his manager. I'd wait until the last second so he couldn't race next year.
My ire truly comes from Martin's statements after this whole fiasco finally ended with him stating he'd fulfill the contract he'd signed with Aprilia last year. You know, the one he took to spite Ducati because the team gave Marc Marquez "his" seat. That's not what happenend, but that's how Martin and his camp viewed the snub. And it's worth noting that Marquez is currently leading the rider's world championship, and Ducati is holding onto the constructors championship, too, though the latter has become a forgone conclusion in recent seasons.
But Martin's chip on his shoulder hasn't left him, even with Aprilia doing its damndest to hold onto the rider who clearly doesn't want to stay with the team. Martin told Motorsport, "I don’t regret anything. Everything that I did in these few months was what I thought was better for my future and me." That, my dear friends and fellow MotoGP aficionados, is absolute horseshit.
Martin's season with Aprilia has been truncated to say the least, having only ridden the team's bike a total of maybe three times in race trim, as he suffered massive crashes, huge injuries, and has subsequently missed nearly the entire season's race schedule recovering from said injuries. And given he didn't ride with Aprilia last year, and has only raced twice this year, it was amazing that he attempted to trigger the contractual clause in his contract that allowed him to break with the team if the pace was off the leaders.
How could he know if it was or not having not ridden the damn bike at all? Bez won a race on the bike. And you're supposedly a world champion. How's that happen without the bike being somewhat OK?
Martin later blamed his hospital stays for his actions, saying, "Nobody can understand when you are in the hospital with 12 broken ribs, that you can not sleep for one week. Nobody can understand what was running through my mind. So everything I did was because I thought it was a better thing for my future." No, you don't get to cop out of the situation like that, and if I were Aprilia's team boss Massimo Raviola, I'd be scouring Martin's contract for a way to break it and not have to pay through the nose some insane contractual fee.
And that's especially true after Martin stated, "And no, I did not apologise to them because I feel I don't need to apologise for anything. I did what was the best for my career and now we are together so we speak together," after being asked whether he'd apologized to the team yet.
Nope, sorry, you're out, and I'm going to make it my mission so as you never get a seat again.
Again, I'm nice, I do my best to foster good relationships, good teams, and give folks a healthy amount of chances. But this, these statements right here, they're grounds to excommunicate—he did the Continental dirty, and conducted business on its grounds, he's out—him from the paddock for good.
That's not likely to occur, unfortunately, as Martin is still see as a golden boy and has a world championship to back it up. But Aprilia, you deserve better than him. As for what happens now, we've got a race this weekend and Martin put the Aprilia into the top ten in qualifying. That, however, means nothing as if you look at Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo whose snagged pole a number of times this year, but ultimately failed in his quest for the top podium spot, race day can change everything.
Crashes happen, and Martin has a habit of making those catastrophic.
