MotoGP | Rivola: “We’re doing something wrong in Aprilia”

At the beginning of this year it seemed that Aprilia was Ducati’s first real rival and the first races of the season confirmed the predictions: Maverick Vinales triumphed in Austin, giving the Noale manufacturer a historic double. This was followed by several podiums, but, when activities resumed after the summer break, this continuity was lost.

What was Aprilia missing? The first reason that comes to mind is a further progression by Ducati, which after a brief interlude returned to dominate the standings, almost always placing all the bikes in the top positions. However, already on Sunday at Silverstone, Vinales argued that it was not so much the Red from Borgo Panigale that had taken a step forward, but rather the RS-GP that had taken steps back.

Massimo Rivola, CEO of Aprilia, did not hold back in his self-criticism at the end of a British Grand Prix that did not see the results expected. The potential was not realized, on a track that has always seen the bike from the Noale manufacturer among the favorites: “Since we returned to Europe, an Aprilia is often and willingly on the front row. It defends itself quite well in the Sprint, but in the long race, from the halfway point onwards we are not competitive enough”.

“There is a performance management issue related to tire wear. We definitely need to focus on this, perhaps also in the weekend planning, even at the risk of going through Q1 at times. We probably need more information starting on Friday. When we put the bike on the track we are immediately fast, but we tend to stall especially on the tire issue. I think there is more of a setup issue, mechanical and electronic. And the format of how we manage the weekend. Maybe trying to bring the tire further forward in wear, looking for those details that make the difference,” Rivola explained to Sky Sport on Sunday at Silverstone.

Despite Ducati’s unchallenged dominance, looking at the data we discover that Aprilia has actually made an important step forward compared to last year: “If we look at today (Sunday, ed.) we were 40 seconds faster than last year, which is an eternity. But we took 10 seconds from the first. Then it is true that we are 2″5 from Pecco, but this is a track where Aprilia has always been strong… We showed it only in terms of absolute performance. We are making a few mistakes. Or rather, Ducati is doing something particularly well, especially since we returned to racing on European tracks. I know that they used a test in Barcelona well, which is a track with little grip, to make a leap forward. They were good”.

Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

There is no shortage of insinuations about the current line-up, especially considering the arrival of two new riders for 2025, in particular Jorge Martin. However, Rivola banishes the thought that the riders can or cannot make the difference: “With Martin today would it be a different story? First of all, thank you for this statement because it is a nice compliment towards the riders’ market that we have managed to make for next year. It is clear that we are counting a lot on him, who has been demonstrating in recent years how strong he is”.

“But Aleix is ​​very fast here and Maverick is also doing it on this track (at Silverstone, ed.). So, the fact that we haven’t put together all the pieces to be able to achieve the expected performance and results must lead us to do some soul-searching and understand how to improve. It’s true that with this year’s tires you go much faster and we did it. These tires have changed the dynamics of the bikes a lot”, explains the CEO of Aprilia.

Not only Martin, from 2025 there will also be Marco Bezzecchi. Their support will be important to continue growing, but at the same time they will have to adapt to a different and new bike for them: “With Martin and Bezzecchi coming from Ducati, we will certainly have new information to work on. But it is also true that in these situations there is also the other side of the coin, because we will lose some ‘safe’ ones and safe performances. I repeat, Aleix is ​​very strong at Silverstone, he made a great record and he deserves it. We hoped to get on the podium, but already on Friday we understood that, at most, we could have obtained fourth place as the best result. However, the gap is not there, it is too much and we must improve”.