La Aprilia presentation took place and the big absentee was Bradley Smith. The driver with 119 Grand Prix starts had indicated to the brand which still employs him that it seemed obvious to him that the place of second driver alongside Aleix Espargaró belonged to him, especially in place of Lorenzo Savadori in the three races accomplished in MotoGP. Perhaps, but high up at Aprilia, they decided for the Italian, thus leaving the Englishman disappointed. Massimo Rivola, as CEO of Aprilia Racing explains…
WhileAleix Espargaro et Lorenzo Savadori posed alongside the latest addition to the RS-GP family, Bradley Smith conspicuous by its absence. We suspect he is ruminating in his corner over the disappointment of having been sidelined in favor of the Italian, and all the more so since Massimo rivola he himself encourages this interpretation in this statement: “ it's obvious he's a driver and wants to race, but we made another decision for reasons which are those of the company. And I respect that he's not happy about that. But we are very open to giving him the chance to continue to do the work he has been doing and possibly make some wild cards, to keep his fierce competitive spirit ».
« It is certain that we will have a test pilot in the future. I think Bradley has done a very good job over the last two years and obviously it would be good to continue with him. But that doesn't go without saying », declared the CEO of Aprilia Racing who added: “ maybe there are alternatives, but we will be happy to continue with Smith and be consistent with what we have done in the past ».
Bradley Smith? Aprilia made a corporate decision
Clearly everything is very complicated and opaque at Aprilia. What seems clear is that this decision was driven by political and not sporting imperatives: “ it was a company decision and we decided to act a little earlier, because we realized that the choice of the driver had a chain effect on the other people and on the choice of the other people in the team ", said Rivola.
The Italian finishes on crash.net : " it is true that Bradley has the experience and characteristic that suits a test pilot much better compared to Lorenzo. It's because Lorenzo Savadori doesn't have experience, so that was part of the choice ". An assessment that deserves reflection, because if we push it to the point of absurdity, Aleix Espargaró actually appeared to be the best possible test driver… Nothing is simple at Aprilia whose advances, let us remember, were rejected by the Moto2 riders Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio di Giannantonio et Joe Roberts ...
