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Rivola, 54, came to MotoGP from an unusual path, beginning his motorsport journey in Formula 1 with the small Minardi outfit later purchased by Australian businessman Paul Stoddart, and ending his F1 tenure with a 10-year stint at Ferrari, running the Ferrari Driver Academy that nurtured current F1 star Charles Leclerc. <\/p>\n
Swapping four wheels for two in 2019, Rivola\u2019s first four years with Italy\u2019s \u201cother\u201d MotoGP outfit were consistent, at least; Aprilia finished last in the constructors\u2019 championship every year from 2019-22. But behind the scenes, Rivola made changes, recruited from outside while promoting from within, and maintained the same mantra. <\/p>\n
Feet on the ground. We will get there.<\/p>\n
MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n
NEWS WRAP <\/a> Aussie answers call, moves add to rider market intrigue, Acosta vows revenge<\/p>\n FRANCE TALKING POINTS<\/a> Wantaway Spaniard\u2019s unlikely surge, Aussie\u2019s points, champ\u2019s multiple surgeries<\/p>\n \u2018There\u2019 is where Aprilia finds itself ahead of this weekend\u2019s sixth round of the MotoGP season in Barcelona, Aprilia coming to the Catalan Grand Prix having won four of the year\u2019s five Grands Prix, locking out the podium at Le Mans for the first time in its history, and with factory teammates Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin separated by one point at the top of the world championship standings, already matching the best season in the brand\u2019s history with 17 rounds still to run.<\/p>\n Now comes Rivola\u2019s biggest challenge: navigating what comes next. <\/p>\n After winning the final two Grands Prix of last year and the first three of this one, Bezzecchi set a MotoGP record for most consecutive laps led (121)<\/a> and has finished the past seven Sunday races no lower than second place. <\/p>\n Martin, his first season in black last year wrecked by multiple injuries and railroaded by contract angst, took his first win since his title-winning season of 2024 last Sunday at Le Mans<\/a>, doing the sprint\/Grand Prix double in France for the second time in three years. <\/p>\n With reigning world champion Marc Marquez injured and absent this weekend in Spain<\/a> \u2013 and already 71 points behind Bezzecchi \u2013 the 2026 title looks like Aprilia\u2019s to lose. Bezzecchi\u2019s closest non-Aprilia challengers are Ducati\u2019s Fabio Di Giannantonio, winner of precisely one Grand Prix in his career and 44 points behind, and KTM\u2019s Pedro Acosta, who has one point fewer than \u2018Diggia\u2019 and one less Grand Prix victory, too. <\/p>\n It\u2019s a position of authority that solves some problems for Rivola while opening up the possibility for others. <\/p>\n When he opportunistically signed Martin for 2025 midway through 2024 when the Spaniard wanted out from Ducati, Rivola had the difference-making rider Aprilia had never employed. When Bezzecchi found a new level as a rider and a leader during Martin\u2019s repeated absences last year, Rivola was both thrilled and wary. <\/p>\n What would happen when \u2013 if \u2013 Martin came back to be something like his former 2024 self? How would he manage two foxes in the same henhouse? And what impact does Martin\u2019s \u2013 as yet unconfirmed, but widely reported \u2013 move to Yamaha next season do for the intra-team dynamics? <\/p>\n \u201cThe simple rule is that they must respect each other,\u201d Rivola said at Le Mans last Sunday. <\/p>\n \u201cIf they will do that, there will be no problem. That one that deserves the most or is the most lucky will make it. If they don\u2019t do that, then I need to do my job and remind them that they have to respect each other. We don\u2019t need to get angry, but I get angry when there is no respect between the people. This is not the case so far.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not joking when I say that I\u2019m not looking very much at the classifications, both the riders and the constructors. I know that we have a strong bike, a strong package, we have strong riders and a strong team. <\/p>\n \u201cI wish the best to Marc to come back as soon as possible and in a good shape, because we want to fight with the best Marc possible. There are some Ducatis, there is Pedro, there are many riders. But if we keep pushing like that, it can be a good year.\u201d<\/p>\n Rivola was quick to congratulate Martin after his first Grand Prix win for Aprilia last Sunday at Le Mans (Aprilia Racing)Source: Supplied<\/p>\n Success at this weekend\u2019s race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya \u2013 which features perhaps the year\u2019s most challenging circuit with its gripless, well-worn layout baked by the Spanish sun \u2013 isn\u2019t a given for Aprilia, and may even be a bad omen. Just once in the past 10 years \u2013 Marc Marquez in 2019 \u2013 has the winner of this round won the title.<\/p>\n The track used to be an Aprilia outlier \u2013 Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales managed a historic 1-2 there in 2023, but combined for just three other podium finishes elsewhere that year \u2013 but the 2026 version of the RS-GP has already proved to be a bike for all seasons, all conditions, and all riders. <\/p>\n It\u2019s Aprilia\u2019s new reality, and Rivola\u2019s job to handle it. <\/p>\n How he does against the backdrop of Bezzecchi already being signed for next year\u2019s 850cc regulation reset and Martin leaving \u2013 particularly as the teammates didn\u2019t exactly get along during their journeys through Moto3 and Moto2 to get to the top flight \u2013 will undoubtedly provide the odd headache.<\/p>\n But from where Aprilia has come from, it\u2019s a potential first-world problem Rivola will happily try to solve. <\/p>\n Here\u2019s your Friday form guide and predictions for the sixth round of the 2026 MotoGP season, with the 24-lap Catalan Grand Prix set for 10pm (AEST) on Sunday after the 12-lap sprint race at 11pm Saturday (AEST). <\/p>\n Martin chases Bezzecchi after French win | 01:43<\/p>\n \u2018POLISHED\u2019 TRACK NO FUN FOR MILLER<\/p>\n Yamaha\u2019s Jack Miller has declared the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya\u2019s track surface to \u201cbe one of the worst, if not the worst\u201d on the MotoGP calendar, as the Australian attempts to score points in consecutive race weekends for the first time this year. <\/p>\n Miller was 15th at Le Mans last Sunday to finally get on the scoreboard for 2026, and while he acknowledged the 4.66km Barcelona layout offers the same challenges for everyone, the state of the track used frequently throughout the year for car and bike events is far from ideal.<\/p>\n PIT TALK PODCAST: Renita and Matt review Jorge Martin\u2019s French Grand Prix clean sweep that puts him firmly in the championship race, assess the impact of another significant injury for Marc Marquez, and preview this weekend\u2019s action in Catalunya. Listen to Pit Talk now<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cEven cycling the track this morning, you see the state of it \u2026 it\u2019s like it\u2019s polished,\u201d Miller said. <\/p>\n \u201cThe state of the asphalt here is one of the worst, if not the worst, we have on the calendar \u2013 apart from, let\u2019s say, Brazil. It\u2019s used quite a lot, a lot of car activity, so it wears out. You lose the sharp stones and everything gets rounded off, and it\u2019s really hard to get the [bike] to hook up and bite [into the surface].<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the same for everybody at the end of the day, it\u2019s the character of the track. Is it one of the funnest tracks to ride? No, because you\u2019re nursing [the bike].\u201d <\/p>\n Miller, who has a MotoGP podium in 2021 when he finished third for Ducati on his Barcelona CV, lauded the performance of Yamaha spearhead Fabio Quartararo at his home race in France last weekend. <\/p>\n Quartararo qualified sixth, six places ahead of the next-best Yamaha rider (Alex Rins, 12th), and finished fifth in the sprint race and sixth in the Grand Prix, 11 seconds ahead of the next Yamaha rider in the sprint (Rins, 13th) and 24 seconds ahead of Rins (12th) in the 27-lap main race. <\/p>\n Miller said he\u2019d employed some of Quartararo\u2019s bike set-up for the Le Mans race, but a gamble on a soft front tyre to benefit from forecast cooler conditions and potential rain that never came saw him trundle home as the fourth-best of the four Yamaha riders in 15th place.<\/p>\n MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n RACE REPORT<\/a> Martin does the double with late-race French fireworks<\/p>\n SECOND-HALF STAR<\/a> Japanese rider\u2019s finishing kick, and why he\u2019s trading MotoGP\u2019s best bike for its worst<\/p>\n \u201cWe made a big change from Saturday to Sunday, very similar to what [Quartararo] did from Friday to Saturday, just to try to transfer the load a little bit easier,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s always stuff we can look at. Obviously he rode fantastic in France, a clear step above all the rest of us on Yamahas, but I still believe this year I haven\u2019t really been able to take the full potential out of any race due to some mistakes of my own, or a mistake in the set-up, or rear brake, or whatever. We\u2019ve had our issues, whether that\u2019s my own fault or some issues with the bike. <\/p>\n \u201cLast week was a decision with the [soft] front tyre \u2026 I was hoping it was going to be a masterstroke, but about eight laps in when the sun poked its head out, I knew that it was a mistake, and on the data we could see where we were suffering. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was more about trying to bring it home and finally putting a point on the board because we\u2019d been scoreless to that point, which wasn\u2019t a nice thing to have.\u201d <\/p>\n Miller finished 12th in the sprint and 14th in the Grand Prix in Barcelona last year. (Photo by Mirco Lazzari gp\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n \u2018ONE-AND-A-HALF ARMS\u2019: MARQUEZ REVEALS INJURY TOLL BEFORE SURGERY<\/p>\n Reigning MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez revealed he had been \u201criding with one-and-a-half arms\u201d before he broke his right foot in the sprint race in France last Saturday, the Ducati rider missing this weekend\u2019s round in Catalunya after multiple surgeries. <\/p>\n After breaking the Le Mans circuit record in the first phase of qualifying and finishing just 0.012secs behind teammate Francesco Bagnaia in the battle for pole position, Marquez violently high-sided out of the sprint with two laps remaining<\/a> and broke the little toe of his right foot. <\/p>\n Marquez horror start continues in France | 01:25<\/p>\n On returning to the Ducati pit box, Marquez told his team he had been planning to undergo right shoulder surgery after this weekend\u2019s race in Barcelona in an attempt to be fit for the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello from May 29-31. <\/p>\n After crashing out early in the Spanish Grand Prix one round previously<\/a>, Marquez\u2019s doctors discovered that a screw holding a bone in place from a right shoulder operation in 2019 had bent and, when Marquez\u2019s body was in certain positions on his MotoGP bike, touched the radial nerve in his shoulder, causing him to intermittently lose feeling and strength in his right arm.<\/p>\n Marquez had only told Ducati general manager Gigi Dall\u2019Igna and his race engineer Marco Rigamonti about his planned post-Catalunya surgery before the accident that broke his foot, revealing he would fly immediately to Madrid for both surgeries after his sprint crash to the rest of his team in an \u2018Inside Ducati\u2019 video wrap<\/a> of the French Grand Prix. <\/p>\n \u201cI hadn\u2019t said anything,\u201d Marquez tells his team as he fights back tears, mimicking a stabbing motion into his right shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a screw that\u2019s causing problems in my shoulder. It works, it doesn\u2019t work. It works, it doesn\u2019t work. That\u2019s why I already had the surgery scheduled for after Catalunya. I\u2019m riding with one-and-a-half arms.\u201d<\/p>\n Marquez, who came into 2026 underdone as he recovered from right shoulder surgery after his opening-lap crash in the Indonesian Grand Prix last October, won two of the year\u2019s first five sprint races but has finished no better than fourth in a Grand Prix, and trails series leader Bezzecchi by 71 points after five rounds as he chases an eighth premier-class world title. <\/p>\n After two surgeries last Sunday, Marquez is aiming to return at Mugello at the end of May. (Photo by Mirco Lazzari gp\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n Since Marquez debuted in MotoGP in 2013, just once \u2013 when Bagnaia recovered from a 91-point deficit after 10 rounds to beat Yamaha\u2019s Fabio Quartararo to the 2022 title \u2013 has a rider chased down a larger deficit to win the world championship<\/a>. <\/p>\n Bagnaia will be the Ducati factory team\u2019s only representative this weekend, with the grid remaining at 22 riders as Yamaha enters test rider Augusto Fernandez for his second wildcard of the year. <\/p>\n KTM\u2019s Maverick Vinales, who has been out since round two in Brazil as he recovered from left shoulder surgery, returns for his home race as the only full-time rider yet to score a point this season.<\/p>\n Bagnaia storms into first Pole position | 00:48<\/p>\n CRYSTAL BALL: FOUR FEARLESS PREDICTIONS FOR CATALUNYA<\/p>\n Winner: Jorge Martin (Aprilia). Martin waited 588 days from his 2024 Indonesian Grand Prix success to last Sunday\u2019s victory at Le Mans, and might wait all of a week for his 10th MotoGP victory at a circuit where he\u2019s done everything but win. The Spaniard has four podiums on his Catalan GP CV, and the circuit is the site of his crowning moment, when he came third in 2024 at the final race of the year relocated to Barcelona from Valencia to seal his world title. Get ready for endless slow-mo shots of his shoulder-down approach to tackling Turn 5 this weekend \u2026 <\/p>\n Closest challenger: Alex Marquez (Ducati). With Marc Marquez out and given Bezzecchi\u2019s modest Catalunya record \u2013 he\u2019s never finished better than ninth here in the premier class \u2013 someone needs to step into the breach, and the 2025 championship runner-up could be that man. The younger Marquez typically thrives at the track, and took pole and won the Grand Prix last year<\/a> \u2013 and would have won the sprint too but for a crash from the lead with four laps left.<\/p>\n Podium smoky: Enea Bastianini (KTM). The same Bastianini who sits just 10th in the standings? Yes \u2026 maybe. \u2018The Beast\u2019 has finished inside the top eight in the past three Grands Prix after a very anonymous start to 2026 for Tech3, and stormed through from ninth to the podium in Barcelona last year, employing his famed late-race charge on worn tyres that have underpinned most of his good MotoGP results. If he can qualify well \u2013 a big asterisk \u2013 he\u2019ll come on strong late.<\/p>\n