Aprilia's “happy, sorry” emotions at Phillip Island MotoGP cancellation
Massimo Rivola reveals Aprilia's conflicting emotions as Marco Bezzecchi misses an opportunity, but injured team-mate Jorge Martin avoids further MotoGP championship damage.
Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola has revealed the contrasting emotions within the team following the cancellation of Sunday's Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island.
Marco Bezzecchi was left frustrated by a missed opportunity, injured title contender Jorge Martin benefited from the washout, while Rivola was personally saddened by the end of the Phillip Island era.
“I'm sure that Marco is a bit pissed, because he saw an opportunity,” Rivola said of Bezzecchi, who had topped Friday Practice before being left ninth in wet qualifying.
The Italian then fought through to fourth in Saturday's Sprint, finishing just over a second behind winner Marc Marquez, who took the World Championship lead after Martin crashed and fractured his wrist.
“I think that Jorge is happy,” Rivola continued.
“I'm sorry for the people who spent all day here, since the very early morning. The last roar at Phillip Island deserved a better end. But it's like this.”
Although heavy rain had been forecast for Sunday, it was poor visibility preventing the medical helicopter from operating that ultimately forced the cancellation.
“Personally, I didn't think about the helicopter, which was the main problem,” Rivola admitted.
“I didn’t speak to Marco after the parade lap, but the track conditions also didn’t look good considering the average speed here.”
Rivola revealed that his own family was among those who had travelled to Phillip Island for MotoGP's final visit to the legendary Australian circuit.
“Personally, I brought my family here because I told them, ‘You need to see the last race in Phillip Island’. So they did four days of travelling for nothing. But it's like that.
“At the end, if you look at Jorge, clearly, it's better if we don't race - not even in Sepang, until the last two rounds maybe!
"But it's not the way we think... We are here to race.”
While little could be done about the visibility, questions were raised over why the Grand Prix had not been swapped with Saturday's Sprint, as happened during the rain-hit 2023 Australian GP weekend.
“In fact, Saturday was also supposed to be quite bad from the afternoon,” Rivola replied.
“Today was supposed to be cold and always rainy, but not as heavy as the night before.
“And personally I didn't consider the helicopter problem.
“Now, speaking after, maybe we could have raced on Saturday, but it's too easy to say now.
“It's just a pity we don't race for all these people. Nothing that we can really control.”
Aprilia: “We didn't maximise at all”
Although the cancellation spared Martin from losing further ground to Marquez, Phillip Island was another weekend when Aprilia failed to convert its dry-weather pace into maximum points.
“We didn't maximise at all,” Rivola said of Indonesia and Australia. “It's clear that Aprilia has an advantage at those two tracks in dry conditions.
“So at the same time, I like to think positive and think that the tracks that are not really supposed to be our tracks can be good for the points at least.
“But we won’t know until we experience them.”
Martin is working towards a return at next weekend's Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang, which he will start ten points behind Marquez, with Bezzecchi 50 points from the top.
Qatar follows a week after Sepang, before the season ends with Portimao and Valencia.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
