The Aprilia adventure in MotoGP should be considered a successful journey since it has been marked by constant progress over the last two seasons. However, we will have noticed that on the fairing of the official RS-GP, we only see the name and logo of the brand. We therefore know who we are dealing with, but we also see that the four other manufacturers involved in the category benefit from the support of a title investor. And the Noale brand competition man recognizes that it is now high time to also find a partner who brings money to the program...
It was a peculiarity that was once shared with Suzuki, which is not an encouraging similarity when we know what happened to the GSX-RR program... An exclusivity on the MotoGP starting grid which identifies Aprilia as the only factory entered without displaying the colors of a main sponsor. Indeed, Ducati, Honda, KTM and Yamaha all have a title investor for their official teams, which differs from the situation of the manufacturer from Noale.
A situation which is not the result of an assumed choice of only wanting to show one's colors. The CEO of Aprilia Racing, Massimo rivola, also finds this situation difficult to understand, as he expressed in an interview with speedweek where he recognizes, in fact, an economic obstacle to the development of the RS-GP project...
« I haven't found a main sponsor for Aprilia, and it's difficult for me to understand »
The Italian thus underlines that a title sponsor would be of significant help: “ I haven't found a main sponsor, and it's difficult for me to understand » he regrets. “ Over the past two years, we have gained a lot of visibility. Our image is very good, and it's great to see a huge Aprilia logo to remind everyone that it's an Aprilia, but I would also like to put a different name on it that spends a lot of money on it. It would help us grow ».
Despite current support from parent company Piaggio, Massimo Rivola made it clear that finding sponsors is essential: “ we can count on the full support of the Piaggio group, and I must say that it is thanks to them that we have come this far. But now it's time for us to find some money. This is something I'm not personally good at. But the best way to improve is to keep working hard, getting performance out of the bike and knocking on the right doors at the right time ».
In 2024, Aprilia will have a satellite team with apparently the means to achieve its ambitions, which is the American brand TrackHouse. The opportunity to have other outlets for your personal account? In any case, this call for support for new money is not neutral.
