The last few months have been a whirlwind for the American squad, which has had to build the structure to compete in MotoGP virtually from scratch. Little by little, stability has come to a team that was living in permanent uncertainty and now breathes much easier.
Despite having contracted two models of the latest specification bike for Oliveira and Fernandez, a lack of time has so far only allowed the Portuguese to start the season with this year’s bike, while the Spaniard competes with the 2023 version.
Yet despite the goodwill and best intentions, the start of the championship has not gone as well as could be expected. After the first two rounds, Oliveira’s ninth place at Portimao is the team’s best result, while Fernandez has yet to score a point and is last in the standings.
As Aprilia’s most senior executive, Rivola welcomes the agreement reached a few months ago, which commits the Noale factory to supply its bikes to the North Carolina-based training centre for the next few years.
«It is extremely valuable for us to have Trackhouse on board. Their influence will be key in the development of the RS-GP,» says Rivola, speaking to Motorsport.com.
«The emergence of Trackhouse is a huge opportunity; the best any other manufacturer can have. This is a very ambitious team. I can’t wait for Trackhouse to beat us, because that will mean we could have done better.
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«If you want to grow, competition is the basis of everything,» adds Rivola, who is in his sixth year at the helm of Aprilia in 2024 following his extensive experience in Formula 1, both at Toro Rosso and Ferrari.
«I am one of the people who supported the signing of Davide Brivio by Trackhouse. His resume speaks for itself. I like to work with people as capable as him, who can potentially be even better than me.
«That’s the philosophy that should be present in the whole team,» says the Italian.
Prior to the confirmation of Brivio’s hiring by Trackhouse, reports had suggested that the former Suzuki manager, who spent the last few years with the Alpine 11 team, could be heading to Honda.
Precisely because of this, some believe that the position he holds may not suit his ambition in the medium term.
«I explicitly asked for Davide to be hired for the medium term, never for the short term,» added Rivola. «I want him to be at our side to grow Trackhouse and Aprilia. I made sure that they removed that fear that he might leave.»