Rivola praises Francesco Bagnaia’s Sepang test form amid Aprilia rumours

Maybe it was simply a sporting gesture, but Massimo Rivola’s praise for Francesco Bagnaia’s performance at the Sepang MotoGP test did nothing to dampen rumours linking the former champion to Aprilia for 2027.

Amid reports that Ducati is lining up KTM star Pedro Acosta to replace Francesco Bagnaia alongside reigning champion Marc Marquez for the 850cc era, Bagnaia left the test having delivered a Sprint simulation beaten only by Alex Marquez.

Quizzed on his future, Bagnaia then teased: “On the table in front of me I have great opportunities, and I will decide very soon.”

One of those “great opportunities” is rumoured to be at Aprilia.

The Noale company became the first manufacturer to officially announce a 2027 factory team signing with a contract extension for Bagnaia’s good friend Marco Bezzecchi, on the eve of this week’s pre-season test.

But the second factory seat is very much up for grabs, with Bezzecchi’s beleaguered team-mate, Jorge Martin, still injured and already linked with a switch to Yamaha.

Speaking with the official MotoGP website, Rivola didn’t explicitly rule out retaining Martin, but added there are “plans B, plans C and D”.

Aprilia emerged as Ducati’s main rival last season, winning five of the last ten races (Sprints and GPs), albeit in Marc Marquez’s absence due to injury.

Sepang was the exception, being the only end-of-season round without a podium - or indeed a race victory - for Aprilia.

However, Bezzecchi signed off the opening pre-season test with the fastest time in the final session, and second overall behind Gresini Ducati's Alex Marquez across the three days.

Nonetheless, Bezzecchi’s Sprint simulation pace was still a step behind the leading Desmosedicis.

“I am happy about the fact that the '26 Aprilia is better than the '25,” Rivola said. “Again, it shows that Noale is quite a good company, able to do nice bikes, but also improve the performance every year.

“But… I would say everybody improved. We saw Honda very fast, Ducati being the reference again, KTM better than last year. So, honestly, I think it's going to be quite an interesting championship. Again, with [Ducati] leading, but we will stay in the slipstream.”

"I'm glad that Pecco is back so strong here"

It was when asked to make predictions for the year ahead that Rivola praised Bagnaia’s performance.

The Italian, who endured a torrid 2025 punctuated by spikes of success, split the Marquez brothers during his Sprint simulation with a total time 1.4s behind Alex but the same margin ahead of Marc after ten laps.

“Well, as I said, I think that Ducati is still the reference. We just saw quite a very strong sprint simulation from Pecco, I'm glad that Pecco is back so strong here,” Rivola said.

“This is a track that Alex likes a lot, and he was super fast. This is a track that Honda tests a lot, and they are all super fast. So honestly I think you guys will have a lot of fun watching the races this year.”

The final pre-season test takes place at Buriram, Thailand, on February 21-22.