Noale leads
Away with prudence and superstitions. Massimo Rivola, speaking to Sky Sport MotoGP, was clear: “Aprilia at this moment is the reference bike“. There is no arrogance, haughtiness, or exaggerated optimism in his words; it is simply a precise analysis of the facts: in three GPs, the Noale bike has won three times on Sunday with Marco Bezzecchi, won a Sprint with Jorge Martin, brought home two 1-2 finishes, and occupies the top two positions in the Riders’ standings with its official riders. Indeed, if the RS-GP26 is not the reference bike on the grid, it’s hard to see which other one could be. It’s true, the ‘European’ part of the season hasn’t started yet, but Austin, Goiania, and Buriram are three different tracks, with different characteristics, where the only common element has been the dominance – more or less marked, but always present – of the Noale bikes.
“It seems clear to me that the bike this year is definitely high-performing – Rivola commented to Sky – I don’t want to be arrogant but I’m not too surprised, in the sense that the numbers telling us the bike was competitive were there. Today, day after day, I must say that the bike is fast almost everywhere. Obviously, now we arrive at Jerez where many have tested, us a little bit too, and we will see where we are. At the moment I feel like saying that the Aprilia is the reference bike. Perhaps we are not used to hearing ourselves say that, but as of today the numbers say this. Us favorites for the title? We are ahead now, that’s all. But I also believe that Jorge [Martin] will still have growth and that Marco [Bezzecchi] still needs to take a step on Saturday: he is the man of Sunday, but as soon as he also becomes the man of Saturday, he will certainly be scary”. As if to say, ‘the best is yet to come‘.
Regret for Ogura and the internal ‘derby’
Rivola also wanted to give credit to Ai Ogura, of the Trackhouse team, a protagonist for a long time in Austin and deprived of what would almost certainly have been a deserved podium by a technical problem: “I am terribly sorry for Ogura – said the Italian manager – I’m sorry for the kid, I’m sorry for Trackhouse, for Justin [Marks], for Davide [Brivio]. I believe he had the pace to reach the podium and maybe not just on the lowest step. He had a problem related to engine protection, so the engine went into protection mode at a certain point. We need to understand. Honestly, from the moment he had the problem, I was terrified, as I believe everyone at Aprilia was, because we didn’t know what had happened and therefore if the same could happen to the others“.
And on a possible Bezzecchi-Martin derby that might continue to develop during the season for the championship title, the Italian manager’s opinion is clear: everyone is free, while always maintaining mutual respect. “The two of them are both completely free to race until the math rules one or the other out. But then I’m only interested in there being respect between them, and they know this very well on the track”, Rivola concluded.
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