{"id":397146,"date":"2026-01-07T09:07:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T09:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/397146\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T09:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T09:07:10","slug":"bezzecchi-savadori-partnership-powered-aprilias-best-motogp-season-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/397146\/","title":{"rendered":"Bezzecchi-Savadori partnership powered Aprilia\u2019s best MotoGP season – Exclusive"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the overlooked factors in Marco Bezzecchi\u2019s breakthrough MotoGP season with Aprilia was perhaps the \u201csuper relationship\u201d he built with test rider Lorenzo Savadori.<\/p>\n

The spotlight, and responsibility for developing the RS-GP, fell squarely on Bezzecchi when team-mate and reigning world champion Jorge Martin<\/a> suffered multiple injuries during pre-season testing.<\/p>\n

Bezzecchi <\/a>had never ridden a factory-spec bike during his previous MotoGP seasons at VR46 Ducati, let alone steered development of an entire project.<\/p>\n

His inexperience in a factory role was compounded by a change of technical director at Aprilia<\/a>, with Fabiano Sterlacchini drafted in to replace HRC-bound Romano Albesiano.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Bezzecchi set about methodically improving the RS-GP in partnership with not only Sterlacchini but Martin\u2019s replacement, Savadori.<\/p>\n

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\"Lorenzo <\/p>\n

Lorenzo Savadori, Marco Bezzecchi<\/p>\n

\u201cSuper relationship with Sava\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMarco got a lot of responsibility on his shoulders [after Martin\u2019s injuries], but he created a super relationship with Sava,\u201d Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola told Crash.net.<\/p>\n

With Savadori racing instead of testing, Aprilia relied on close communication between its riders on race weekends.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to cancel a lot of testing because Sava was busy racing. So we used Sava to try to develop the bike at races, following his own feelings, but also from what Marco was thinking about the bike.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey spoke to each other a lot to understand what they needed. \u2018Okay, let’s calm down the bike. The bike needs to be more stable\u2019. Things like that. Then, all together, we took a direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

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That direction ultimately enabled Bezzecchi to deliver the best-yet MotoGP season for an Aprilia rider, featuring three grand prix wins, three Sprint victories and third in the world championship.<\/p>\n

Rivola admitted he was surprised not so much by Bezzecchi\u2019s speed, but by his leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was expecting Marco to be very, very fast. But I didn’t know his leadership aspect, also from the technical point of view. That impressed us from the first test.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Marco <\/p>\n

Marco Bezzecchi celebrates a Sprint victory<\/p>\n

Bezzecchi knew he could “surprise the world\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivola described Bezzecchi\u2019s approach as \u201cquite analytical\u201d, aiding Sterlacchini\u2019s bike development program, but was also quick to credit the \u2018human\u2019 element.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMarco spends time with the team. If it\u2019s a flyaway, he travels to and from the hotel with us. Here [Valencia], he stays in the garage until we all have dinner together at 8pm.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we found someone that was believing in the project deeply. And I think this made the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although success wasn\u2019t instant, there had been signs of what was to come from pre-season testing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say that the Thailand test, for me, was where I thought, \u2018this guy will fight for the podium very, very soon\u2019,\u201d said Rivola, referring to Bezzecchi\u2019s impressive race simulation on the final day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think also in his mind, he saw himself quite fast from the beginning and that he could surprise the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Marco <\/p>\n

Marco Bezzecchi wins the 2025 British MotoGP<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething remarkable\u201d<\/p>\n

Crucially, Bezzecchi remained patient while the pieces fell into place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you change bikes, you need a bit of time to adapt. But he was quite smart in not overriding the bike. And understanding what our bike needs to go fast,\u201d said Rivola.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, he knew that we had to improve the bike, but also that he had to change his riding style to get the best out of the Aprilia. And this is something remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everything clicked spectacularly at Silverstone, where Bezzecchi capitalised on a technical failure for Fabio Quartararo to claim his first Aprilia victory – and podium – from just tenth on the grid.<\/p>\n

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Up until that point, the British MotoGP<\/a> weekend had been dominated by the shock news that Martin was seeking an early exit from his Aprilia contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cSilverstone was the perfect timing, also, with, let’s say, the shit surrounding the story with Jorge,\u201d Rivola said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were also lucky, because we don’t have to forget that Fabio was leading.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut after that victory, I think the season changed. Marco realised that he could do it and we realised that we could do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe getting the first podium with a victory was a bit too much to expect. But it’s fine!\u201d<\/p>\n

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Martin later backed down from an Aprilia exit, meaning the Spaniard will remain alongside Bezzecchi for 2026.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to our MotoGP Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the overlooked factors in Marco Bezzecchi\u2019s breakthrough MotoGP season with Aprilia was perhaps the \u201csuper relationship\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397147,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[18009,10669,64,63,5744,139585,10732,806,805,803,804,85],"class_list":["post-397146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-aprilia","tag-aprilia-racing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-jorge-martin","tag-lorenzo-savadori","tag-marco-bezzecchi","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397146","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=397146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}