“It’s Realistic” – Massimo Rivola Lays Out Aprilia Main Goal for 2025 MotoGP
Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola outlines realistic goals for the 2025 MotoGP season after Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi's first RS-GP test.
With an all-new factory Aprilia line-up and the arrival of rookie Ai Ogura at Trackhouse, Raul Fernandez will be the only MotoGP rider to start the new season with race experience on an RS-GP. Massimo Rivola, CEO of Aprilia Racing, has laid out some quite ambitious expectations for the Spaniard ahead of the 2025 MotoGP season.
Speaking on Fernandez’s potential, Rivola emphasized the challenges the only remaining 2024 Aprilia rider had to face. “We expect a lot from Raul. In 2024, we had already a big expectation.”
“But he had the change of the bike during the season, and then he was not really confident on that [2024] one. And let’s not forget that he missed the Sepang test at the beginning of the season. I think that Raul can deliver quite a good performance and, obviously, it’s up to us to give him a good bike.”
Aprilia is confident that in a more stable environment in 2025, Fernandez will flourish. However, to make a step forward in 2025, the 24-year-old will have to find a balance between a “bike that’s better for him to ride” and a bike “that’s the fastest on track”.
“I think that sometimes riders don’t necessarily bring you to the direction to get. So we needed to be sometimes quite tough and push Raul to keep trying something that maybe he doesn’t like, but we know is faster,” Rivola explains his past experiences developing the bike with Fernandez.
“I think this will be the main job [in 2025] and I expect that also from our new technical director [Fabiano Sterlacchini] to push and find the best compromise.”
Fernandez’s role will involve not just improving his personal performance but also contributing to the RS-GP’s development. For that, he and his rookie teammate Ai Ogura will have full factory support in 2025.
“All four riders will have the 2025 bike. We will have four bikes all the same in Sepang. That is actually the best way to develop the bike,” Rivola is certain.
“It’s great to have Trackhouse so committed to our work. It looks like watching [the Barcelona Test], having the two new riders [Martin and Bezzecchi] was a big morale boost not just for us but also for Raul.”
