“We must aim for victory, period”

Aprilia's ambition could not be clearer this year. From the spring of 2024, the brand recruited Jorge Martín, who subsequently became world champion, then another winner in Marco Bezzecchi. It strengthened its place on the grid with four latest generation machines and reshuffled its team with a new technical director, Fabiano Sterlacchini. The ultimate symbol of the Noale firm's desire to reach the top, it will display the #1 on Martín's bike in 2025.

“With such a history, Aprilia Racing must aim for victory, period”warned Massimo Rivola, general manager of Aprilia Racing, during the presentation of the RS-GP25 on Thursday. This objective should not, however, become a pressure in the eyes of Sterlacchini.

“We believe that this is above all a great opportunity, more than a great responsibility”underlined the engineer. “Afterwards, having a driver like Jorge, we expect to win but in the past we have already seen very, very talented drivers, who have won several titles, and who have had a rather long adaptation. As far as we are concerned , that’s the fundamental goal right now.”

“All development processes must be considered in stages, and the first step is that we are all able – the pilots, us and the entire technical team – to identify problems and get to exploit everything as quickly as possible. the potential of the project.”

Rivola is aware that it will take some time for Martín and Bezzecchi to adapt, potentially delaying their ability to fully exploit the Aprilia. “Managing expectations will perhaps be one of the problems we will encounter, because we are comparing two riders who have never ridden this bike with others who have ridden it for eight years and more than three years,” underlined the leader.

“We have to be very careful because the last two or three tenths [s’obtiennent] with sensations that you only find after having logged a few kilometers. The more we shorten these deadlines, the more we will be able to inconvenience everyone.”

“Huge potential” to unlock

In 2024, the riders who knew the Aprilia well failed to fight sustainably with Ducati. Maverick Viñales is certainly the only one to have defeated the Desmosedici in the main race last year but he has only done it once, in Austin. The Spaniard and his then teammate, Aleix Espargaró, also had three sprint race successes but the manufacturer finished the season behind KTM in the championship.

Rivola is aware of the need to gain consistency and make the bike perform on a wider range of circuits, but the Italian is convinced of the capabilities of his troops. “We have to be better overall”he explained at the end of 2024 to the official MotoGP website. “Sometimes we are very good and sometimes we are almost completely lost. We need a more intermediate bike.”

“There is potential, it’s clear”underlined Rivola when meeting the media this week. “We are coming out of a 2024 season below expectations but in terms of absolute performance, in the space of 20 races there has been an Aprilia on the front row 14 times, so the bike is competitive – and that is also thanks to those who took it to the limit. It's also true that we weren't the best in the long race, that's for sure, but I see enormous potential.

“Managing expectations to maximize potential, so that's going to be one of the key points of the season, especially at the start. Going to Sepang and Thailand, which are not tracks that are favorable for us, unlike Barcelona where the sensations were very good, it is perhaps better in the sense that we will immediately bring out the biggest problems and it will allow us to concentrate seriously on that. It will push us, not to. humility because we always leave with the feet on earth but in any case to lower expectations initially With a potential like that, we have everything to do good things, yes.

To grow this potential, Aprilia sought progress in all areas this winter, in order to rise to the level required to welcome the reigning champion: “We have made a 180° turn by making a big change because in addition to the drivers and Fabiano, we also have new chief mechanics, new staff.”

“I have always said in recent years that we continue to develop because we have a better factory, and I believe that today our factory is able to withstand the impact of a world champion and a Italian talent – ​​because it's also a pressure to have an Italian driver for a team like ours. If we ever fail, it will be our fault, no one else's. So all the better if we have these responsibilities, which. are actually an opportunity.”

It is a kind of path in order to achieve the perfection of the whole system.

The leap forward that Aprilia hopes to achieve is complicated by regulatory stability, which does not offer a real opportunity to make a difference. The bike is therefore evolving in all areas but starting from a well-known base, and Sterlacchini explained at the end of 2024 that the objective was also to improve working methods on the circuits.

“[La moto] is clearly not a revolution. This is an important development for certain aspects on which there was work to be done. The settlement has been quite stable in recent years and it is therefore normal that we reach a sort of plateau in the evolution. It is normal that it cannot be a revolution. It’s probably in 2027 that we will see a revolution, that’s clear.”

“It is a kind of path to achieve the perfection of the whole system”specified the technician. “That doesn't mean that we have to improve just the bike, but also the way we lead the riders to perform well during the weekend. That's my way of interpreting things, but it's like aligning the planets. You have to understand that the planets are the engine braking, the traction control, the way to use the motorcycle in certain turns, the way to straighten it… It's a kind of process.”

With Lena Buffa