The race weekend in Japan turned out to be another nightmare for Massimo Rivola’s Aprilia team. While Maverick Viñales, who had brilliantly secured a place on the front row during qualifying, abandoned the race after a fall on the 12th lap, Aleix Espargaró had to settle for a ninth place, finishing 30 seconds behind the winner, Pecco Bagnaia . This poor performance highlights the Italian manufacturer’s recent difficulties in MotoGP, as the team struggles to regain its level of competitiveness.
Le PDG d’Aprilia Racing, Massimo Rivolaexpressed his frustration and disappointment with his team’s results in Motegi. “ We know that we are capable of good performances, but we can’t confirm them anymore these days “, he told Sky Sport MotoGP. Rival also insisted thatAprilia works tirelessly to understand the reasons for this decline: “ we pass from morning to evening trying to understand
why we cannot confirm our performance from previous years. »
This drop in form comes at a crucial time for
Apriliawhich is already preparing for the future with the arrival of the new technical director, Fabiano
Sterlacchiniplanned for 2025, and promising pilots like Jorge Martin et Marco Bezzecchi. However, Rival stressed the importance of ending the current season on a positive note and avoiding focusing solely on the future.
Massimo Rivola: « maybe our motorcycle is more sensitive to micrometric changes than we think »
The disappointment was particularly great after the abandonment of
Maverick Viñaleswho had shown excellent pace throughout the weekend. “ When I saw Maverick’s lap in qualifying, and also his pace during practice on Friday with a time of 1’44’9, he had the potential to get on the podium », underlined
Rival. However, the fall of
Vinales in the 12th round dashed those hopes, and
Aprilia has once again been left behind.
Rival also noted that the RS-GP seemed particularly sensitive to variations in grip: “
we clearly lacked gripand maybe our motorcycle is more sensitive to micrometric changes than we think. » Despite these difficulties, the CEO insisted on the fact that motivation remained intact within the team: “ we have great motivation with all the important changes to come, both on a technical and organizational level. »
While waiting for next season, Rival and his team are now focused on the next Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Islandhoping to get immediate answers and improvements. With talented drivers and new strategies in place,
Aprilia hopes to quickly recover the slope to return to the level which, according to Rivalis theirs by right. “ We must return to the level we deserve as quickly as possible. » the boss finishes on Corsedimoto.
MotoGP, Japan J3: classification
