Today I met Leclerc.
I greet you all.
Looking forward to the resumption of the warm-up on Sunday morning, I remember that the MotoGP World Championship will be held at the weekend in Misano, Bagnaia is on the track.
There is a story that tells a lot about the Ferrari behind Aprilia’s growth.
Here is a version of the irresistible and delusional Roly, who also salutes everyone for being no less than Leclerc.
ROLIE SCRIPSIT
Donington Park, May 2000. Jeremy Mac Williams leads the British Wet Grand Prix in a two-cylinder Aprilia 500, behind him but well behind young Valentino Rossi, who has a poor start and is in thirteenth position. The asphalt dries up, it doesn’t rain anymore, with three laps to go Aprilia’s Dunlops finally destroy them, Valentino’s Honda in a furious comeback takes the lead and wins its first Grand Prix in the 500 class according to Roberts Jr. and McWilliams third.
We had to wait over 20 years to get Aprilia’s first win in the premier class, but there was so much more last Sunday, I still don’t fully believe it, a few months ago we spoke with Massimo Rivola in his office in Noale, noting, as with a quarter of Ducati’s budget, no miracles were to be expected and instead a “miracle” happened, last Sunday Aleix Espargaro outstripped Maverick Vinales at the finish line.
Let’s see what were the reasons why Aprilia Racing went from supporting CRT to Top Team in MotoGP in a very short time.
First of all, there is a synergy between technical and logistical aspects, maximum assistance to the pilots guaranteed by listening during debriefing and immediate feedback from test pilot Lorenzo Savadori.
The constant search for every little detail, on this Rivola is very obvious, Aprilia competes with the giants, Ducati backs Audi, Ktm has a very high budget for Red Bull, but… the method, perhaps inherited from the experience in Formula 1, works. it is no coincidence that those involved in the aerodynamic aspect and engine manufacturers have experience in Maranello.
Like Ferrari, Aprilia will never be a mediocre team.
Perhaps it will be for the racing soul, the memory of the founder Ivano Beggio, who had so much in common with Drake (although not everyone knows this, I recommend reading my friend Claudio Pavanello’s book “My Aprilia”) the Max Biaggi amulet is always present to remember the results, obtained 30 years ago, and here is the stunning figure of Massimo, a true motorcycle enthusiast who often wears his overalls to share his passion on the track and thus stay in the MOOD (is it true?) of us who love racing and Italian motorcycles.
Rivola is the human face of the current MotoGp, the one who worries about Pekko Bagnai’s physical condition at the end of the race before hugging his winners, he always supports them when he can claim all the credit for success instead.
We don’t have enough world championships to finish everything, but here Massimo slows down, just a little bit, only with his back to send a very fast bike on the rope, but he knows it, he feels it, even Romano Albesiano (technical director) feels it, we can do that if the trend of improvement stays constant and if Vinales’ eternal promise can make his innate talent more concrete, it won’t take long and you might not even need a super champion if you have one at home. (Oliveira, Fernandez) and if we had half the Ducati budget.
Oh! I forgot, Massimo Rivola also headed Toro Rosso in 2008 at Monza, does that mean anything?