Aprilia MotoGP boss Massimo Rivola says that the championship needs to reconsider its complete ban on private testing for teams without concessions - specifically to grant some leeway for riders returning from serious injury.
Reigning series champion Jorge Martin, Aprilia's new signing, crashed early in pre-season testing at Sepang last month before falling again while riding a supermoto bike in Spain as part of his rehabilitation, badly breaking the scaphoid bone in his left wrist in the process.
Originally sidelined for all but five laps of the series' two official pre-season tests, he has since missed the opening two rounds of the championship in Thailand and Argentina - with a further update on Thursday confirming he will also not make the Grand Prix of the Americas and may be in doubt for round four in Qatar as well.
That means that when Martin will eventually return to action, hopefully at the Lusail race next month but more likely at his home race at Jerez in late April, it will almost be his first time on a MotoGP bike since November.
Under MotoGP's current rules, only those manufacturers with 'Rank D' concession status (currently Honda and Yamaha) are allowed private tests with their racers. This means Martin would have to return to high-speed riding on a stock Aprilia superbike far removed from his MotoGP machine.
That's something that Rivola rightly points out presents a problem both from a safety perspective and from an entertainment one.
"Honestly, I think we should think about what is good for the show and what is good for the safety of the rider,” former Ferrari Formula 1 sporting director Rivola told The Race.
"If we allow the Japanese manufacturers with the concessions to do the tests they want, only for performance reasons, then why should we not make a rule to have a softer introduction to the speed of a MotoGP bike to someone who has lost so much time?
"And let's say he comes to Qatar, rides FP1 for one lap and says, 'F***, I tried the RSV4 [superbike] for one lap, it was softer but with this one I cannot do it'. Then [for the whole weekend] we have one bike less on the grid."
Conceding that the current rule is very much something that has been brought to the fore of Aprilia's mind by Martin’s injuries, Rivola was nonetheless quick to stress that he was not lobbying for it to be changed in order to specifically suit his rider - which in any case might be a tall order given the timeframe in which any rule change is likely to be rubber-stamped.
Rather, he wanted to use the situation to push for something that he insists could benefit everyone on the grid going forward by easing injured racers back into action.
"Clearly we are right now very interested to change the rule eventually," he admitted, "but it is for the benefit of all the riders. I don't think anyone with decent respect for the riders or the show [would object].
"I'm not trying to sell something just for me.
"But if you think about the racing format we have now, where already on Friday we are into qualifying, you need someone with big confidence.
"For me, it's something that everyone should understand."
