Massimo Rivola launched a dig at a Superbike championship which until then brought him the last of his 54 world titles in 2014. It was with Sylvain Guintoli and the 4cc RSV1 that Max Biaggi had already crowned in 000 and 2010. Years when the current boss of Aprilia Racing was still far from the subject of motorcycle competition, but now that he is at the head of Noale's troops, who are experiencing a historic season in a MotoGP that she had the good idea to approach under his own colors for the very first time in the category this year, he has a global vision of the subject. An analysis which makes him say that the category which is said to be reserved for motorcycles from the series is a false pretense.
Massimo rivola apparently doesn't have a thing for a WSBK Superbike, to the point that he even seems to question its relevance. However, it is obvious a priori with a basic principle which is to reserve it for motorcycles from the series. It thus strikes a balance with MotoGP which is the place where prototypes come to life. But for the Italian, all this would be specious. On speedweek, one would almost notice an acerbic tone in his approach: “ the World Superbike Championship makes no sense at the moment », declares Massimo rivola, race director ofAprilia since January 2019. The SBK is a sort of B championship for MotoGP ».
Massimo Rivola: “they should be sports bikes from the series that you can buy at the local dealership"
And to make himself understood, he delivers this blow: “ World Superbike Championship machines are not production motorcycles “he assures. " These should be sports bikes from the series that you can buy at the local dealership. You could change the fairing, exhaust system and suspension parts, if you wanted, and then you could compete in the World Superbike Championship with it. Then each manufacturer could say: “I can do it too”. This should be the principle of SBK ».
But we know that it's not exactly that, with in particular a margin of technical evolution tolerated to make the base of the motorcycles a little more frenzied, which still remains a model in the range. And to avoid any overflow, a complex performance regulation system, which is moreover scalable to avoid any domination by a competitor, is put in place. But all this only concerns motorcycles with a maximum cylinder capacity of 1cc. However, at Aprilia, we upgraded his RSV4 to 1cc. She therefore no longer has the right to citizenship. And maybe that's what's frustrating Massimo rivola.
