Aprilia Racing has finally responded to claims reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Martin wants to quit his contract mid-way through its first year.
The bombshell news that the currently injured Martin intended to leave Aprilia emerged after the French Grand Prix.
Motorsport.com first reported that there is a performance clause in Martin's deal that could allow for such a break - and that Martin had already informed Aprilia of his interest in making a split happen.
Until now, neither party had commented publicly. But ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, Aprilia issued a statement insisting that the contract was "valid and effective" and "must be respected", and effectively warning other teams off trying to entice Martin away.
The team also "denies the existence of negotiations between the parties for the modification of the duration of the contract, which remains the one originally agreed upon".
More on the Martin/Aprilia controversy
The statement read: "The contract between Aprilia Racing and Jorge Martin is valid and effective, and as such must be respected until its expiration (end of 2026) by both parties, as Aprilia Racing has done, honouring it in every part, in the time and manner foreseen and will continue to do so in the future.
"Aprilia Racing denies the existence of negotiations between the parties for the modification of the duration of the contract, which remains the one originally agreed upon and does not comment on matters that do not concern it directly, but expects that other teams will not make offers of any kind to riders who are under contract: such behaviour would be illegitimate.
"The entire team will support Jorge in his physical recovery, as always, and can't wait for him to return to the track with the RS-GP."
Martin was injured in pre-season testing before then suffering a worse injury while training ahead of the season opener.
Upon his racing return in Qatar, he crashed again and suffered 11 rib fractures and a hemopneumothora.
Martin is still yet to comment on the claims, and will not be present at Silverstone this weekend.
