Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola admits the manufacturer is “doing something wrong” in MotoGP after watching it slip away from Ducati in the pecking order in recent races.
Aprilia has gone from regularly challenging MotoGP’s dominant marque to being only an occasional top-five scorer in a span of just four months, with last weekend’s British Grand Prix perfectly capturing its remarkable downfall from the highs of a sprint win at Portimao and a sprint and grand prix double victory in Austin in April.
At Silverstone, factory rider Aleix Espargaro tumbled from pole to a distant sixth at the chequered flag, while team-mate Maverick Vinales had an even more bruising race en route to 13th place in the lower reaches of the points.
It prompted Americas GP winner Vinales to say it is Aprilia which has made a step backwards in MotoGP, rather than Ducati making a big jump forward with its GP24 bike.
Now, Rivola has joined Vinales to criticise the Noale-based brand for its recent results in MotoGP, having only celebrated an impressive grand prix victory at Silverstone 12 months ago as part of its ascent up the field.
"If we go and see, at Silverstone we were 40 seconds faster than last year, which is an eternity, but we took 10 seconds from first [place],” he told Sky Sport Italy.
“Then it is true that we are 2.5s from Pecco [Bagnaia of Ducati], but this is a track where Aprilia has always gone fast. We've only shown that in terms of overall performance.
“We're doing something wrong. Or rather, Ducati is doing something particularly well, especially since we got back to racing on European tracks. I know they used a test at Barcelona, which is a track with little grip, to make a leap forward. They did well.”
One of the biggest strengths of the Ducati this year has been its ability to extract the maximum performance from Michelin’s new 2024 tyres, while also keeping degradation to a minimum for the final stretch of the race.
Conversely, Aprilia has been struggling with heavy tyre wear on the RS-GP in 2024, with Espargaro having to fit a hard compound on the rear of his bike at Silverstone and Vinales complaining that his tyre was ‘gone after just six laps’.
Speaking in response, Rivola said that Aprilia needs to devote a greater part of the race weekend towards understanding Michelin tyres, with Espargaro and Vinales particularly struggling in the longer Sunday races.
"Since we have been back in Europe, an Aprilia on the front row is often there. It defends itself quite well in the sprint, but in the long race, from the middle onwards we are not competitive enough,” he lamented.
"There is a performance management issue related to tyre wear. We definitely need to focus on that, maybe even in the planning of the weekend, even at the risk of going through Q1 sometimes.
"We probably need more information as early as Friday. As we put the bike on the track we are immediately quick, but we tend to stall mainly on the tyre issue. I think there is more of a set-up theme, mechanical and electronic.
"And the format of how we manage the weekend. Maybe trying to take the tyre further in wear, look for those things that make a difference."
