The CEO of Aprilia recounted the entire negotiation: Aleix Espargaro acted as mediator. It all started, seriously, at 8pm on Sunday (when Ducati chose Marquez, ed.): “The fact that he chose us is a source of pride, partly for the quality of the bike in terms of performance, partly for the quality of the team which Aleix will surely have told him about”
June 3, 2024
Scarperia – At 5.45pm a social announcement from Aprilia: at 6pm big news. We received the news in the press room at Mugello, where a rather intermittent day of testing was coming to an end, marked by bad weather and with only 16 riders on track, among other things for a few laps.
At 6pm the news: Martin official in Aprilia from 2025. The negotiations closed during the night, the parties explained Massimo Rivola they were talking to each other quite seriously from Barcelona, since Aleix announced his farewell.
But everything is intensified from 8pm on Sunday evening, when, presumably on the other side, i.e. in Ducati, it was decided that it would be Marc Marquez the official driver for 2025-26.
So everything took speed: the parties got closer, the Aprilia legal team, underlined the communication manager Antonio Boselli, worked quickly and the contract was drawn up in a few hours: Jorge Martin in Aprilia, contract biennial for 2025 and 2026. Also one in the middle night call of Rivola a Michele Colaninno, to get the OK to proceed from the Piaggio Group
Meanwhile, he arrived in the press room at Mugello Massimo Rivola, CEO of Aprilia. These are his words commenting on this news
Why did this negotiation begin in earnest just last night?
“I believe that yesterday’s race was a very emotional race for him who had crashed the day before, so I think he understood that perhaps his future was no longer there. And he wanted to find the best possible solution “
And when did you start to understand that there was an opportunity to take Martin?
“From Barcelona, when Aleix retired. First we spoke with Marquez, Bastianini and Martin, that is, with their managers”
Martin on Thursday was convinced of going to the red but an angry Marquez said he wouldn’t go to Pramac…
“Probably my movement stimulated someone else to make decisions a little quicker. I told myself that Aleix’s decision had to be at Mugello but he wanted to bring it forward to his home Grand Prix, I feel like saying today ‘ fortunately because with everything that happened we wouldn’t have been able to manage everything. We had to stay here on Tuesday too! So after being a truffle dog we drew conclusions. I honestly didn’t think there was really this possibility.”
About Martin…
“Seeing Jorge so motivated obviously makes me happy”
Maybe with the number 1 on the hull…
“We will only discover this by living, as Battisti said”
Is he that top rider that Aprilia said they wanted?
“So, yes. I also consider Maverick a top rider anyway, so if we had a pairing with these two top riders for me it would be the strongest pairing in the championship. But you can’t always have everything, so we’ll take one step at a time. Today we had the opportunity to close an important piece and we took it quickly. The thing that really pleases me is also the speed with which we managed to react, we put together the fastest contract in history.”
Did you accept because of the financial offer or because of the challenge?
“Certainly of the various offers that he had, ours was not the highest, even if it is a super respectable offer, but the fact that he chose us is a source of pride, partly for the quality of the bike in terms of performance, a partly due to the quality of the team which Aleix will surely have told him about, or also due to the perception of us from the outside which, all things considered, I believe is a team where we feel good, so perhaps this was also a factor “
The communications manager Aprilia Boselli spoke for clarify: “A clarification on the fact of the economic offerthat is, the delta It is not so ample compared to other offers. Then it will be up to you (journalists, ed.) to find out exactly what the offers are.”
TOPrilia has always had a very ethical approach to the rider market. For example with Andrea Iannone or when you signed Maverick, you always had a different approach from other teams. How much influence do you think this has had for Jorge, given that now perhaps he sees a little bit of ethical approaches?
“You should ask Jorge this. We have our style and we stick to it. I’m just saying that I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to be timely and talk one-on-one with Maverick about this thing before he went out, while he was driving it wasn’t possible, but I I wanted to seize the opportunity immediately and do it. Let’s look ahead now, ready to work, to have fun for this great party and then ready, beautiful, concentrated for Assen which here we took 10 seconds with our best driver. where there is so much to do”
So is Martin your first choice?
“Well, if I have to tell you the truth, yes. Honestly, initially I didn’t think it was even possible that he could be on the market. Then when I saw, I started, as I was saying, I acted like a Truffle dog, I saw that there was ‘It was the possibility and so I put a little bone in him to see if he was interested’
Speaking of Aleix, did you try to convince him to stay?
“I joked to him after he won the sprint, but I think it’s right. I think it’s right for Aleix’s story to end like this. I hope he finds a great contract with an interesting challenge. I can imagine, thinking highly rumor, that those who most need to grow are perhaps the Japanese teams, so it will be an even more interesting challenge for him and maybe they will be able to pay him quite well, so good for him”
For you, for you there wasn’t a possibility of having two test drivers, because now the test team is increasingly important anyway…
“The test team is increasingly important, but the priority was to find Aleix’s replacement first and then possibly think about that. I don’t even know if he has already made an agreement, but I respect his wishes”
Yesterday Martin’s manager, however, was talking to Ducati at night. Couldn’t it be a decision made a bit in anger, not so much thought through?
“You should ask him this. I can only say that I’m happy that he took it. If he was angry, maybe he’ll be a tenth less on track next year, so I don’t know, I honestly don’t know. I I saw him really happy, sincere. The thing I liked was that I saw him happy, really happy. Maybe he didn’t know in his head, he had to decide and he made a decision, as I saw Aleix, excited, but then happy, you know when you have to make a decision you don’t know what to do and you make a decision and you do it, I love to think that Jorge has made this decision and is happy about it.”
Among the reasons you used to convince him was ‘come and be the first MotoGP world champion with Aprilia’?
“No, because Maverick could be too. Honestly, at the beginning of the year, seeing the performance of the bike, I said, but you know what it could be, can you play for it? So then the championship is long… Eh, you might say, but Ducati will take off even further. I like to think that we will close the gap, we work day and night for that. Nobody leaves defeated, the championship is long.”
