There is a new addition to the world championship. Aprilia confirms its commitment to MotoGP and will welcome Massimo Rivola, who recently filed his resignation as head of the Ferrari FDA.
A close friend of Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel that he met during his seasons at Toro Rosso, Rivola was born in Faenza, Italy, in 1971 and entered the world of racing in 1998, initially with Formula 1 Minardi team, in the Marketing Office before he became sporting director and team manager in 2005. Then he switched to the Scuderia Toro Rosso, where he was team manager from 2006 to 2008 before moving to Ferrari, where he has been sporting director since 2009.
FDA stands for Ferrari Driver Academy, the young talent program that has existed for years and probably inspired Valentino Rossi. The FDA recently presented one to the Maranello team Charles Leclerc, who will replace Kimi Raikkonen next to Sebastian Vettel in 2019, his ranks currently include Giuliano Alesi, Marcus Armstrong, Enzo Fittipaldi (Italian F4 champion), Antonio Fuoco, Callum Ilott, Gianluca Petecof, Guan Yu Zhou and Robert Schwartzman.
Under Rivola’s leadership in the FDA, both Antonio Giovinazzi, who will drive for SauBer Alfa Romeo next season, and Antonio Fuco, a Gran Turismo driver and current Formula E tester for the Geox Dragon team, have developed their careers .
Massimo Rivoli becomes CEO of Aprilia Racing. As you will remember Romano Albesiano, the current technical director, had indicated a new addition to give the MotoGP project an extra boost of energy.
Jean Todt’s former right arm, Miodrag Kutur, is also in the World Championship, in the role of Sports Director for Team Leopard in Moto3.