‘He’s giving himself enough s**t already’

Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola says there is “no reason” for him to rein in Marco Bezzecchi’s aggression, insisting the Italian rider is already tough on himself.

Bezzecchi has emerged as one of the strongest riders on the MotoGP grid, having followed up his victories at Portimao and Valencia at the end of 2025 with another dominant performance in this month’s Thailand opener.

However, the 27-year-old has also come under fire for making costly errors and giving away points to his rivals with ill-timed crashes. He was the favourite for victory at last year’s Indonesian Grand Prix but collided with Marc Marquez’s Ducati on the opening lap while trying to recover from a poor start. Similarly, he crashed out of the lead in this month’s Buriram sprint while trying to build an advantage in the early laps.

Bezzecchi did rebound from the Buriram error to win the grand prix the following day, but many observers still view his aggression as a potential weakness that could impact his title ambitions.

Rivola, however, feels there is no need for Aprilia to intervene in the situation, stating it is important for the team to support Bezzecchi rather than add further pressure.

“Marco is a very intelligent guy, and a very smart guy. He knew the mistake by himself. There is no reason for me to give him extra s**t when he is putting a lot of s**t on himself.

“So, I think there are moments where he can be tough with Aprilia, and moments where I need to support him. Yes, I was attempting to support him, despite the [error]. But at the end, the team was happy.”

Bezzecchi’s crash at Mandalika last year allowed Gresini rider Fermin Aldeguer to pick up his first MotoGP win, with no other Aprilia rider in a position to capitalise on the error.

However, since then, the Noale’s MotoGP line-up has strengthened considerably. Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez rediscovered his MotoGP form at the end of last year, with a victory in the Australian GP last year followed by podiums in Valencia and Thailand. Jorge Martin was also in the podium fight at Buriram after undergoing two further surgeries in the winter, while Ai Ogura equally impressed with his charge to fifth in the grand prix.

With all four riders firing on full cylinders, the Noale factory now has a stronger chance of ending Ducati’s reign, having previously relied too heavily on its star rider Bezzecchi.

“I think all four did something special in a way,” said Rivola. «Marco, because it was just perfect and he just flew away. Jorge, because since three weeks ago he was just cycling and nothing else, and missed one season also.

“Raul, because with the shoulder [in the warm-up] he was suffering. And Ai, that after a bad start, he recovered positions and did overtaking in places where normally you don’t overtake. 

“Big satisfaction and big compliments to all four of them.”

Rivola confirmed that all four Aprilia riders are competing on the same equipment this year, with only minor changes made to their bikes according to their individual preferences.

“There are four exactly identical bikes on track. If there is something different, it’s because riders [want something different]. Then there are new parts and you bring just a few parts of that; you let them try. If someone is super convinced, we go for it. And if someone is not convinced, we wait for them. 

“So after those results, we follow the riders. There are things in the bike that Jorge doesn’t have, for example. There are things in Marco’s bike that Ai doesn’t have. It’s a combination, but I’m perfectly fine with it. 

“What we can see in terms of top speed, Raul is a bit slower than the other three. Maybe from the aero side, we need to check the position on the bike. The weight, the shape of him. So there are small details. We are playing with details.”

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— The Motorsport.com Team