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 was able to drift straight into the team and achieve the aforementioned results. Where Trackhouse Racing’s Raúl Fernández 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’s 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.
“We have a better bike because we are a better company, and I truly believe that,” Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola said. “I 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…and clearly next year. I think we can be a pain for everybody.”
In terms of the materials shaped to meet the requirements of the four Aprilia riders — Bezzecchi and Martin for the works squad and Fernández and Ai Ogura for Trackhouse (all remain in place for 2026) — Valente’s remit is specific. “I work with the frame and the swing arm, handlebars and ergonomics; everything that is not engine or electronics. Aerodynamics also. I’m not a performance engineer – like those who look at data to see which braking phase is better for the rider — 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.”
“The 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,” he goes on. “My role is 60-40 between track and headquarters. It’s 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 — and Noale — can suggest the best one for that particular race. The same for other parts.”
“It is not like we have [one] genius and all the ideas come from him”
Valente’s days are spent in meetings and consultations and report-making. He’ll 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’s racing organisation. His information flow back to Noale must be on point. “If I make a recommendation and a new part is made for the following race and it doesn’t work then it’s a waste of time and money, so we have to avoid that situation,” he explains. “All 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…”
His tasks may revolve around the RS-GP’s progressive competitiveness but there are also weekly performance pressures involved. “There are certain races where the aerodynamics or the brakes are more important than others,” he describes. “For example, Phillip Island [Australia] is a track where the riders don’t 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’t have any failures: a rider can crash but a technical problem is more avoidable. We have to manage every detail.”
Aprilia’s 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? “I found people with great engineering-thinking,” he says without hesitating. “The 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.”
Valente ensures there’s a flow of information between Noale and wherever in the world the team is racing
The company’s 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. “I think it’s been like that for a while: we have many patents regarding the aero side,” Rivola says. “It’s our strongest point, I would say. It means we need to work even more to keep the leadership of that area.”
“It’s amazing; a great challenge for us as technicians,” Valente says of Aprilia’s free-thinking attitude to R&D. “I 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.”
