MotoGP is set to begin a new season this week at the Lusail Internation Circuit in Qatar. 22 riders will take on 21 different tracks riding on new motorcycles. All eyes will be on Ducati and their defending World Champion, Francesco Bagnaia. Aprilia Racing is a team that has had a lot of promise and potential to fight the Ducati echelon, however, their endeavours during the 2023 season were not the most remarkable. We spoke to Massimo Rivola, CEO, Aprilia Racing to find out how the Italian outfit plans to tackle the new season. We also spoke to Romano Albesiano, Technical Director, Aprilia Racing and asked him the same questions. You can read his perspective on the matter here.
Getting off on the right foot
Rivola shed light on how well the riders are adapting to their new machines, “I can see different levels of performance from the riders at the moment, with Aleix in a superb shape. He immediately got the feeling of the 24 bike and concentrated on setups to adapt his style. I'm quite convinced that Maverick will be on the top quite soon. There were some difficulties for Miguel on the 24 bike but I think that is part of the fact that he is jumping from the 22 to the 24 (motorcycle). It's a bit more difficult, so I think he needs some more mileage than the others. Raúl, as we know, didn't test in Sepang due to a crash after two laps and was quite surprising in Qatar with the 23 bike. He was immediately very fast despite his physical condition not being at 100%.”
Talking about the relative lack of competitiveness during the 2023 season as compared to the one before, he said, “I would say the 2023 bike was much better than the 22, but our competitors stepped up too and having eight bikes, in particular for Ducati, obviously was a huge help. In 2022, we got a lot of podiums because we managed to wait for the right moment. In 2023, maybe our expectation to fight for the podiums pushed the riders to a level where they lose a bit of consistency, in particular, Aleix. I have to say that during the season we saw Maverick getting better and better and he demonstrated amazing performances on tracks where Aprilia is not strong, like for example Silverstone, Argentina and Barcelona. He scored the pole position in Valencia and that is not one of our strong tracks on paper. In the end, Maverick finished the season with a very strong feeling and performance. Ideally, we would love to start the 2024 season with that kind of feeling. We want to ensure that our efforts give him a bike where he can fight for the podiums.”
The Development Race
While rider skill is important, a capable machine is equally vital in getting race wins. As such, all the manufacturers are hard at work, improving their motorcycles. With engine specifications locked in till 2027, teams are experimenting with aerodynamics. “The innovations we brought were a lot and most of the others follow us. So this year we went even deeper into that kind of innovation, like the ground effect and the fork wings. Also, instead of finding downforce on the rear of the bike through wings, we found a different way, in a sort of a fork style with a diffuser as you can see on the bike. In the end, we can find a lot of downforce and a lot of efficiency and we can get a better bike on paper. But if the riders cannot find the feeling with that bike then it is a waste of time. The big job now is to combine the improvement from the aero side with the feeling of the bike. We saw Aleix immediately feeling right with the motorcycle while Maverick was struggling a bit more but it's just a matter of time and adapting to the rider style.”, Rivola told us.
Marking the target
It is clear from the pre-season testing results that Ducati is once again leading the field. On being asked whether KTM is a more realistic target for Aprilia, Rivola answered, “I know KTM is pushing a lot, working with Red Bull on the aero side. So we have a big challenge in front of us. But we love challenges and as Italians, we want to use our skills to invent. Innovation is part of the DNA of Aprilia so I'm sure that something will come out of Noale but for sure KTM would be a very strong competitor. They want to win as we do, they have four bikes as we have and they have four good riders as we do. Actually, it's a fair competition fighting with them and I know they're ready, but we are ready too”.
Talking more about the possibility of winning races in 2024, he said, “We already proved in 2023 that we can beat them (Ducati), like we did in Silverstone and in Barcelona. We proved that we can score the pole position so we can be the fastest actually.”
The Road to India
2023 marked MotoGP’s first outing on Indian soil but it was not a great experience for the Aprilia team. “The track was a bit difficult for us due to the very high temperature. Surely we need to be more prepared for this year, but I think all the data we got from the experience of the 23 will make us so much stronger for next year's races.”
Rivola agreed that having the Indian GP at a different time with colder weather would be beneficial for Aprilia, “For sure if you change the date that could be a help for us in particular because we were the ones that suffered the most, but I think it's our problem and we have to solve the problem and not ask Dorna to change the date. I think it's in our hands to make this step first and then if they will change it will be better. I love to first look to the mirror and see what we can do better to solve our problems”.
Helping hands
2024 marks the second year when Aprilia will have a satellite team on the grid. While they had partnered with RNF for 2023, in 2024, the operations have been taken over by Trackhouse Racing. But having an additional team also means additional work as Rivola puts it, “The first year with four bikes on track with the satellite team, at the beginning, for sure was quite demanding to organise, but it was a good experience. The new team, Trackhouse, seems really ambitious and this is what we want. In the end, having four bikes and four riders on the track is important for the performance. He further said, “I think this year will be important for the RSGP-24 bikes because Raúl will also get it sometime mid-season and that will help us in improving the performance even more and even faster. I believe we should get the benefit of all this data to improve the bike again next year. Obviously, we still have 4 bikes, so our data will be half of our main competitor.”
Write your Comment