2022 was a transition season for Aprilia. With Iannone disqualified, Savadori had to be drafted at the last minute with no experience whatsoever. The team had practically only found each other with Aleix Espargarò and a lot of work to reach the top. In a few months everything changed: Dovizioso agreed to some tests, then Vinales divorced Yamaha and spontaneously accepted Noale’s offer. In addition, Silverstone reached the first podium in MotoGP.
“Of all these things, the only thing I didn’t expect was Maverick’s arrival. I’ve been preaching for a podium for some time (laughs) and thought we could get Dovizioso too. “ smiled Massimo Rivola, CEO of Aprilia Racing, the man who changed the face of Aprilia after joining Ferrari and Formula 1 in 2019.
It could be said that you have now accepted the challenge from Vinales: an undisputed talent but one who divorced his team in Moto3 before joining Yamaha. Did you have any doubts about the difficulty of managing such a driver?
“I absolutely never had any doubts. In fact, I’ve always considered Maverick to be one of the greatest talents on the grid, even when I wasn’t in the paddock. I still think that way and even more after two days of testing together. I am convinced that he can really take us to the top also because on the other side of the garage is Aleix, who is at the height of his career as an athlete, both physically and mentally and with his knowledge of the bike. The fact that we have two drivers who can reach this level means we can start bothering everyone, maybe we won’t have as much sympathy with everyone now (laughs) ”.
“Vinales is a difficult rider? You can work on your character, but you have to have the potential”
After working with him, if only briefly, what impact does Vinales have on you as a person?
“I can only speak of him well. In the beginning everything is probably fine and he knows he can’t miss any more opportunities, but I think he has learned from his mistakes. In general, I prefer to work with those who have the greatest potential, regardless of their character. That can be sorted out, and if there is no potential, it can hardly be extracted. His approach to us wasn’t great, it was perfect in every way: technical, human, the humble way he showed himself to be available to the team. An environment like ours, smaller and very passionate, can, in my opinion, achieve more than all the technical details. “
You are not afraid that he will try to break an engine …
“If one day we get that far, we will also have to do an examination of our conscience. I hope it doesn’t happen ”.
“Next year Vinales will win with Aprilia”
Now that you have a top rider, a rider who has already proven himself to be a winner in MotoGP, does that give you a different responsibility?
“I’m raising the bar if we forget this year I think he’ll win with us too. We have to take on a little more responsibility and the luck we have at work was that the podium came at the right time. Aleix says he took a load off his shoulders, but that goes for us too, for the guys from Noale, who can say that we can do it in MotoGP too, that we aren’t there by chance. Today Aleix was not satisfied, but he finished second, all of this gives us more responsibility, but be it so. I expect that we will put even more effort and concentration, we do not lack the will to take on more responsibility and we are not afraid ”.
“I am delighted that Dovizioso is moving to Yamaha, in a year and a half he will be an even better tester for us.”
The arrival of Vinales has removed Dovizioso from future plans. Have you ever really hoped that he would ride Aprilia in 2022?
“No, I was hoping he would come with us in 2021. When we were able to take him to some tests, it was always clear to me that he could have been a great test driver for us. but not a rider. In the historic moment he and we were in, we both needed something different. I can understand his choice very well, we spoke very openly. The test with Vinales was planned with Andrea and he understood the situation very well as I told him that he should have taken the opportunity with Yamaha. In fact, the relationship has always been very open I also told him it was great for me because in a year and a half he will be an even better tester for us. I continued to work (laughs). I think he felt very comfortable with us, even if a test is a much more relaxed context, we took it very seriously with Dovi. We tried to do everything he asked us to do in record time.
“Now we are no longer afraid that our motorcycle can only be driven by Aleix Espargarò”
It was an experience that didn’t last long, but could he provide any specific help?
“Yes, we followed some of his pointers and not others because he had been involved with a certain riding style and type of bike for 8 years, so it is normal that he has been looking for certain types of sensations. In the fact that it is now very interesting to have a rider from Yamaha, we will be able to compare his comments with those of Dovi who came from Ducati. We now have confirmation that it’s not just Aleix who can ride our bike, which was one of our fears. Savadori himself would have come close with more racing on his shoulders. It is a great satisfaction, we know our weaknesses and strengths, I am optimistic about the direction in which we will go next year. “
Are you sorry you had to give up on Savadori?
“I’m sorry Lorenzo didn’t have the chance to end the season. I am convinced that at two full years he would be a rider that MotoGP would no longer take. I explained the situation to him and he understood it perfectly, he will remain an Aprilia man and we will do some wild cards together “.
To be continued … Tomorrow we will publish the second part of the interview with Massimo Rivola. Stay tuned!