{"id":371529,"date":"2025-12-25T19:24:29","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T19:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/371529\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T19:24:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T19:24:29","slug":"aprilia-midfielder-who-keeps-motogp-team-ticking-if-its-not-working-hes-the-guy-to-blame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/371529\/","title":{"rendered":"Aprilia ‘midfielder’ who keeps MotoGP team ticking – ‘If it’s not working, he’s the guy to blame!’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The spotlight is now a bit bigger and brighter on Aprilia after a simmering stage in 2023 and 2024 and then into 2025 where a rider like Marco Bezzecchi<\/a> was able to drift straight into the team and achieve the aforementioned results. Where Trackhouse<\/a> Racing\u2019s Ra\u00fal Fern\u00e1ndez was also able to triumph on the RS-GP. Where the company was able to win a race for the third year in succession (no other brand outside of Ducati has that distinction), and where 2024 world champion Jorge Martin<\/a>\u2019s momentary mental wobble on whether to see out his Aprilia contract amid sustained injury woes now seems like a large misjudgement. The whole effort is chiming to the sum of its various expertise.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a better bike because we are a better company, and I truly believe that,\u201d Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola said. \u201cI think we have a drawing office that is really good. We have a mix of young people coming from university, historical people from Aprilia [who are] super-motivated, and some other [former] F1 people from a different background. I think we are quite a good mix. I think we have everything to fight for the title. The expectation was already there this year, despite changing technical director and riders\u2026and clearly next year. I think we can be a pain for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

In terms of the materials shaped to meet the requirements of the four Aprilia riders \u2014 Bezzecchi and Martin for the works squad and Fern\u00e1ndez and Ai Ogura<\/a> for Trackhouse (all remain in place for 2026) \u2014 Valente\u2019s remit is specific. \u201cI work with the frame and the swing arm, handlebars and ergonomics; everything that is not engine or electronics. Aerodynamics also. I\u2019m not a performance engineer \u2013 like those who look at data to see which braking phase is better for the rider \u2014 but I try, with the help of the mechanics, check that the bike is fine mechanically, and as the interface between track and HQ in Noale.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe technical department in Italy give me any new parts or updates and I then explain to Fabiano or the crew chiefs why we are making those upgrades,\u201d he goes on. \u201cMy role is 60-40 between track and headquarters. It\u2019s important I give feedback to Noale but also to the engineers on track to manage the weekend and to recommend the best options for each race. As an example: there are different configurations for brakes that we can use, and looking at past and present data I \u2014 and Noale \u2014 can suggest the best one for that particular race. The same for other parts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not like we have [one] genius and all the ideas come from him\u201d<\/p>\n

Valente\u2019s days are spent in meetings and consultations and report-making. He\u2019ll deal with the riders directly for matters of ergonomics (and therefore his role is even more prominent in pre-season tests and for those racers perhaps new to the RS-GP) but is otherwise constantly filtering between the management layers of Aprilia\u2019s racing organisation. His information flow back to Noale must be on point. \u201cIf I make a recommendation and a new part is made for the following race and it doesn\u2019t work then it\u2019s a waste of time and money, so we have to avoid that situation,\u201d he explains. \u201cAll the comments and tips have to be very specific and thoughtful. For sure I have the help of the engineers and mechanics on track for this\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

His tasks may revolve around the RS-GP\u2019s progressive competitiveness but there are also weekly performance pressures involved. \u201cThere are certain races where the aerodynamics or the brakes are more important than others,\u201d he describes. \u201cFor example, Phillip Island<\/a> [Australia] is a track where the riders don\u2019t brake a lot and the temperature of the system is not so high so we have to keep an eye on safety. In other races it could be about material or a component that is at the limit for mileage and I have to manage, or be 90% sure, that we won\u2019t have any failures: a rider can crash but a technical problem is more avoidable. We have to manage every detail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aprilia\u2019s race targets are now set on P1, and that means dethroning Ducati Corse. Valente has experience of both factory divisions. What did he find in Noale compared to Bologna? \u201cI found people with great engineering-thinking,\u201d he says without hesitating. \u201cThe management of the team and the people at home is very similar [between the companies] so the Italian culture plays a part, I think. The mentality is similar: openness and innovation. I was in Ducati from 2019 when they were already very good on track with Andrea [Dovizioso]. When I arrived in Aprilia I sensed that the bike and the project was maturing and the people were really hungry to reach the top level. The main difference is this: Ducati was already very good and the level was high and people had that hunger to get the championship [but then] I felt that more at Aprilia where they wanted to grow up with the bike, with the riders and to reach the level where they are now and to be ready to try and win each race.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pasquale<\/p>\n

Valente ensures there\u2019s a flow of information between Noale and wherever in the world the team is racing<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s efforts with aerodynamics is one obvious and visual way in which Aprilia has tried to be the principal innovator. Ducati may have led initially and have developed scoops, ride height devices and deflectors but Aprilia has been relentless with its protrusion inventiveness. \u201cI think it\u2019s been like that for a while: we have many patents regarding the aero side,\u201d Rivola says. \u201cIt\u2019s our strongest point, I would say. It means we need to work even more to keep the leadership of that area.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing; a great challenge for us as technicians,\u201d Valente says of Aprilia\u2019s free-thinking attitude to R&D. \u201cI feel adrenaline when we think of something new and we try it on track. At Aprilia we have a lot of these ideas, and you see a lot on the bikes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The spotlight is now a bit bigger and brighter on Aprilia after a simmering stage in 2023 and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371530,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[18009,64,63,806,805,803,804,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-371529","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motosport","8":"tag-aprilia","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-motor","12":"tag-motor-sports","13":"tag-motosport","14":"tag-motosports","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}