The New Year is always an opportunity to make wishes. This is what he did Bradley Smith, the Aprilia test rider, who wants manufacturers to be able to continue developing new technologies on machines as they wish without a budgetary ceiling preventing them.
Aprilia is currently in the abysmal depths of the manufacturers' ranking even if these riders, including Aleix Espargaro works hard at the task. It is supported by Andrea Iannone which will be decided on its fate on January 07 regarding a possible suspension in view of the suspicion of doping which hangs over the head of the Italian hunk.
It is KTM which has established itself this season as the fifth force in MotoGP. Honda, Yamaha, Ducati and Suzuki are already out of reach of the Italian manufacturer who will have a lot to do again this year. However, as explained by its test pilot Bradley Smith, there is no shortage of resources. According to Smith, manufacturers must be able to keep control: “ if there was a budget cap, it would be difficult to increase Aprilia's chances. Dorna does a fantastic job year after year of trying to use the same ECU and supplier for the tires. But it's MotoGP and we have to try to give freedom to the manufacturers. MotoGP is a big challenge” explained the Briton.
« There's a lot of great technology coming out of the paddock every day. You have to give free rein to the manufacturers to work. They need to find a sponsor for funding. We are very lucky to have Piaggio, it is one of the biggest motorcycle groups in the world” said the 29-year-old pilot.
« If we want to reach the level of Honda, Yamaha or KTM, we can do it. We must give ourselves the means to do this while taking into account what the company also wants. If I were in charge, I would give as much money as possible to continue the development of the motorcycles: I would hire 150 engineers to build the chassis. But it's not me who makes the decisions and I know that in this political world, you need more than just investing money, you need time, a structure and a real project." concluded the pilot from Oxford.
