The Aprilia adventure in MotoGP has taken a conquering turn for two seasons and especially since the current one. Born in 2015, remodeled from an engine point of view and in the hands of Aleix Espargaró since 2017, the RS-GP is now in the running to take its Spanish driver to the world title. This will be the challenge of the nine events which will follow one another from the beginning of August at Silverstone, but the sporting director Massimo Rivola will also have another objective in mind: to attract a sponsor to support a war effort like the Piaggio group, whose coat of arms de Noale is part, supports at arm's length. He has a contact, and the revelation of his name is surprising...
We will never forget that Massimo rivola was trained in Formula 1 and, when this escapes us, it is he who reminds us by citing the major discipline of motorsport as a reference for the management of the main category of motorcycle sport. The Italian has happened to do this on the subject of technical development, but not only that. Because this last area leads to the budgets to be deployed to find performance.
However, the situation does not lend itself to delusions of grandeur and that is also why Ducati, legally, annoys. Massimo rivola mentions this when he states: “ we need to discuss banning all these super tools and devices that only increase costs. You also have to talk about new aerodynamic restrictions. Aprilia is very strong in this area. But for the benefit of the championship and our core business, namely mass production, we need to keep costs low. As we contemplate our future, we should think seriously about cost control ».
A mastery that Formula 1 has rightly decided to make an objective, with the determination of a budgetary ceiling: “ at the moment, no one can complain about the quality of the show » says Rivola, no offense to some. “ Therefore, we must strive to keep the performance level of everyone involved at a similar level. If one manufacturer can invest much more than another, and I'm not just talking about Ducati, maybe another team can invest a lot more, then it becomes a bit unfair ».
"Aprilia must now find a top sponsor"
An injustice which would firstly affect Aprilia... The Piaggio group of which he is a member, it is said, pays up to 20 to 30 million per year for the RS-GP program. It must be said that, unlike Repsol for Honda, Monster for Yamaha or Red Bull for KTM, Aprilia has no investor title reported on its fairings. However, the other manufacturer to rely only on itself to continue the Grand Prix adventure is Suzuki with its Ecstar brand. And we know what will happen to the GSX-RRs at the end of this season…
A random situation that Massimo rivola do not hide : " we do not have a main sponsor. We now need to find a top sponsor » he said on speedweek. " I can report that the best sponsors are waking up and turning to us. It's a good sign. I really hope we find one. If we want to stay competitive, we need the right budgets ».
And contacts are underway. The former Ferrari Formula 1 driver speaks about it just as openly, not without surprising the identity of the opportunity: “ we are in talks. It would also be interesting to ask whether the Red Bull group supports a second top team, as in Formula 1. Aprilia could become MotoGP's Alpha Tauri team for Mr Mateschitz ". What do you think about it? KTM ?
