Turin, 22 May (LaPresse) – ‘The contract between Aprilia Racing and Jorge Martin is valid and effective, and as such must be respected until its expiry (end of 2026) by both parties, as Aprilia Racing has done, honouring it in its entirety, in the manner and within the time frame agreed, and will continue to do so in the future.’ This was announced in a statement by the Noale-based manufacturer, which ‘denies the existence of negotiations between the parties to modify the duration of the contract, which remains as originally agreed, and does not comment on matters that do not directly concern it, but expects other teams not to make offers of any kind to riders who are under contract: such behaviour would be illegal – the statement continues – The entire team will support Jorge in his physical recovery, as it has always done, and looks forward to his return to the track with the RS-GP.’ The Spanish rider, last season's MotoGP world champion with the Pramac Ducati team, is currently sidelined after a series of crashes that have complicated his start to the season with Aprilia.