by MATTEO SENATORE
In the splendid setting of Misano Adriaticoin view of the San Marino and Rimini Riviera GP, we met exclusively with the CEO of Aprilia, Max Rivola. The Noale-based company is certifying its role as the second force on the track this year, chasing a Ducati that for the moment is still the absolute reference of the grid. The current season has seen ups and downs, while the future – read 2025 – is very intriguing with the advent of a completely new line-up composed of Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi. The number one in the Aprilia box spoke to us about all this and more, also granting us a small excursus four-wheeled.
Massimo, what is your assessment of this season so far? Have you met your expectations, also in relation to your performance in 2023?
You ask me after Aragon, which was the worst race since I’ve been here at Aprilia, so obviously I’m a bit stunned. Aragon was clearly something shocking. I think there were some pretty unrepeatable conditions, but I don’t sleep at night not understanding why certain things happen. But we have a lot of good engineers paid to understand, to solve certain problems, so I’m sure we’ll get out of it. The season is going basically as expected. In terms of pure performance we started well, with a very strong overall performance, I’d say also in line with that of Ducati, but we didn’t maximize the results, so we weren’t good enough. Then they made a leap, especially on Sunday. They had a series of races where their tire management was clearly different to ours, but I have to say it was also different to that of everyone else. They did something particularly important, especially with the two ‘classic’ contenders for the title: Bagnaia and Martin. It’s true that in the last race we finally saw a super victory by Marquez – it seemed like we had gone back ten years for the kind of gap he created – but here in Misano we should all be a little closer.
What was the goal for 2024?
The goal this year was to be second in the Constructors. Today we are there but – after Aragon – only by the skin of our teeth. It is true that we could have expected Acosta to be a phenomenon, but the fact that he was so fast right from the start honestly surprised the whole paddock a bit. I have to say that it is very nice when you find these top class riders with these truly remarkable natural speed characteristics. It is obvious that if we look at the start of the season I think that Maverick’s race in Austin was at least equal – even if obviously for me it was much more exciting – to the one done by Marc Marquez in Aragon. We know that we can do performances like that. I don’t think we have lost our way, I think that the others have done something to improve and here I return to the topic of having eight bikes. Undoubtedly it gives you a lot more data. Then they are very good [Ducati] to know how to interpret them, but in the meantime give them to me and then we’ll see how to do it. This is an advantage that Ducati will carry forward into the next few years, even if they ‘only’ have six bikes, which are still more than four. Today they have reached a level that is truly remarkable. We absolutely must find a way to do what they have done, especially in managing the long race.
Speaking of bikes, Davide Brivio says there is a strong synergy between you and the Trackhouse customer team. Can you confirm?
Yes absolutely, there are many of our people there. There is a daily comparison with our technicians, the debriefings are also done by their riders. I believe a lot in sharing data, which has been the key element for Ducati’s success. In general, to look at the results you also have to think about yourself, not just about others. We are improving: it is obvious that if others have made a bigger leap we need to push even harder.
Next year you will take two riders – Martin and Bezzecchi – from Ducati into your team. Will they bring a different mentality? And could it be a disadvantage that they both have to adapt to a new bike?
Surely when a rider gets on a bike, apart from the case of Acosta now and maybe Martin when he entered MotoGP – both of them immediately started to go really fast – you have already ‘assimilated’ certain sensations and therefore it becomes much more difficult to adapt to a new bike. Having said that, when a rider is strong it comes out immediately. Of course, it is true that we will also have to know what the rider needs to make him go fast and vice versa what he feels he needs from the bike to go fast. As for the mentality, no, I don’t think they bring a different mentality. Surely having them will be a great motivation for us.
Also because the two of them are among those who have fought the most with Bagnaia in recent years.
Yes, let’s not forget Aeneas either [Bastianini]because he was chosen for the official team precisely because Ducati thought he was doing better than Jorge. So we must also respect what Enea did and what Marquez himself did, who today is showing how you can go fast right away. Maybe without immediately reaching victory but finding yourself at the top right away. Also because Marquez is definitely in the running for this year’s World Championship. There are still a lot of points available and currently accumulating results is even more important than doing ‘all or nothing’. Looking at our home, having a couple like Jorge and Bez is very stimulating. Having a rider like Martin, who has been fighting for the World Championship for two years, takes away all our excuses. I hear many still saying: ‘the bike is good, but it doesn’t win for the riders’. On the contrary, I believe that we have two riders who already ride the bike, know it and squeeze it to the max. I would like to do better than that, if it were possible. Let’s see, I’m very curious.
Could it be an extra incentive that they both come from another house?
We will have to give them some time to adjust, but not too much. (laughs, ed.). Every now and then you also need some changes and I thought it was time to take away the excuses, so I wanted the driver who is competing for the World Championship and I did everything to have him. Then, as for Bezzecchi, I think it was time to have an Italian driver. I think Bez is the real character of this period. Maybe not of the very last period, because this year he is in a bit more difficulty, but he is a driver who in his second year won races by a wide margin, as we saw in India and Argentina, and he won in the wet. This means he has remarkable qualities. So we have to be good at fishing out what good can come out of this combination.
Lastly, I would like to ask you something extra related to the motorbike…
Leclerc?
Yes, you anticipated me. You saw him grow, I wanted to ask you a comment about him, after his second success in Monza and also in view of the couple he will form next year with Lewis Hamilton
Personally, I am really very happy for Charles. Also because this year, no matter what happens, he took home Monza and Monaco. He experienced two enormous emotions. I am particularly happy for his victory in Monaco, because in the past years everything had always happened to him. And it makes me very happy. Pleasure for the Ferrari wall, which has always been criticized in terms of strategy. Instead this time they screwed everyone and it was very nice. I think Lewis’ arrival is an important plus, because it is a stimulus for Charles. Obviously his teammate is the first one he wants to beat. By bringing Lewis into the team I thought Ferrari would also spend a bit on technicians, which hasn’t happened at the moment. I hope it happens, because in motorsport whoever stops is lost. To maintain a certain status you always have to improve. If your status is not yet that of the leader, you have to improve even more. But it will be an interesting challenge. The issue of having the statistically most successful driver is not so important. Today in Formula 1 the car does 90%. We also see it with Verstappen: now that the car goes slower he too may end up sixth. Then there are moments in which the drivers can make the difference: this is true for Lewis as it was for Fernando [Alonso] when I was there. But it is essential to have the car, so I wish Ferrari the best of luck.
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