The victory at Silverstone was a breakthrough for Aprilia—Massimo Rivola talks about Marco Bezzecchi and how he has established himself as the team’s figurehead
After a difficult and complicated start to the season, Marco Bezzecchi caused great jubilation in the Aprilia camp with his victory at Silverstone. For the first time in a year, since Maverick Vinales won in Austin, an Aprilia crossed the finish line in first place. For Bezzecchi, it was his fourth MotoGP victory and his first since India in 2023.
“I’m really happy for Marco because he’s someone who always gives his all, both on the bike and off the track,” enthuses Aprilia’s head of motorsport Massimo Rivola. Bezzecchi also works hard for the team behind the scenes.
“After Le Mans, he sent us a video message that we forwarded to the entire company. In it, he said: ‘Guys, I believe in this project, keep at it!’ When you feel that kind of responsibility, it’s obviously a huge motivation.”
Bezzecchi is part of Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Academy. He had an offer from the Pramac Ducati team for the 2024 season, but decided to stay with the VR46 team for a third year. Ultimately, he developed a desire to move to a factory team.
When he received the offer from Aprilia, he accepted and was involved in development work for the first time. Due to Jorge Martin’s injury, Bezzecchi was practically left with the sole leadership role in the factory team.
“What Marco has achieved, he has done all by himself,” praises Rivola. “And unfortunately, he has been used to doing everything on his own since day one. That’s why we’re all the more happy for him – he’s achieved something special.“
”As I said, he’s someone who believes in us, in us as a company. He enjoys being a factory rider. He wants to involve everyone. He’s someone who wants to feel close to us – and that’s what he gets.”
“I’m especially happy for Fabiano Sterlacchini, because since he joined the team, there haven’t been many successes.” The new technical director has only been with Aprilia since the fall. Rivola sent Sterlacchini to the podium to accept the trophy for the winning brand.
Bezzecchi already showed a comeback in the sprint at Silverstone, finishing fourth. The track has been a good place for Aprilia in the past. In 2021, Aleix Espargaro took the first podium finish since the brand’s MotoGP comeback, and in 2023, the Spaniard won.
“It’s true that our bike is usually quite competitive at Silverstone – and that was the case again this time. I was a little disappointed with qualifying because Marco was very fast right from the first run in FT1.
“Of course, we were also lucky because Fabio [Quartararo] deserved to win,” said Rivola, thinking back to the Yamaha crash. “But that’s racing. In any case, it was great to see Marco take the lead and build up a four-second advantage.”
Is Aprilia slipping into Concession Group D?
“To be honest, I couldn’t be happier,” said a delighted Rivola. Ducati leads the manufacturers’ standings by a clear margin. Honda, Aprilia, KTM, and Yamaha are relatively close together. There is a possibility that Aprilia and KTM could slip into concession group D.
Both are currently in Group C. There will be an interim assessment in the summer. If Aprilia and KTM slip into Group D alongside the two Japanese brands, there would be many more development and testing opportunities.
“Of course, Marco’s result and the 25 points change the overall situation a little,” said Rivola. “If I look at the average of the first six races, there is a possibility that we could slip into the Concession D category, which would make further development easier.”
“If we were to end up in D, that would certainly be helpful from a current perspective in order to push development forward. In Jorge’s case, it could be helpful for his comeback. And Marco could test more specifically under certain conditions to rack up more kilometers.“
”That would definitely help. As far as the technical side is concerned, we have already drawn up our plan without concessions. I don’t think we will change it because of this. However, what we could adjust would be the test program and training, especially for the riders.”
To remain in Group C, Aprilia and KTM must be able to score at least 35 percent of all possible points between the 2024 British Grand Prix and the race in Brno on July 20 (a total of 851 points).
That equates to a minimum of 298 points. Aprilia currently has 220 points, KTM 250. Yamaha has 160 points and Honda 126.
