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There were high expectations in Aprilia following their performance in 2022 when they found themselves in the midst of the World Championship title fight with Aleix Espargaró. Despite continuing to grow in MotoGP, providing bikes to a satellite team for the first time, and securing two more victories along with their first double win in history, the Venetian brand couldn't achieve the goals they had set for the just-concluded season.
"It was a season with too many ups and downs. A year with great emotions, like at Silverstone and of course in Barcelona, but also a season where we missed many opportunities to perform and lost many points for one reason or another. We had planned to be the second-best constructor, and we didn't achieve that," admitted Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola, summing up this season. "We are not satisfied, but honestly, it's good not to be satisfied even if you have achieved victories and podiums. This means the expectations were high because we've worked well in recent seasons. I hoped the performances had grown so much in recent years to make our lives easy, but unfortunately, our competitors don't sleep."
Although Aprilia demonstrated their speed several times, it's not always easy to consistently perform in a high-level championship like MotoGP. Therefore, in addition to Ducati, KTM also positioned itself ahead of Aprilia, which finished the championship in third place. They were trailing KTM by 47 points, which in turn was 327 points behind the manufacturer from Borgo Panigale.
"I would say it's mostly due to the starts and the Sprint races," commented the 52-year-old on KTM's performance. "I think we are on a very similar level in terms of the bikes. We knew Ducati had an advantage, and this is worrying for the upcoming years in terms of the spectacle. With eight bikes and Marc Marquez, it will be interesting to see, but for the others, it's a problem."
In addition to the points lost on the track, one of the major issues Aprilia faced in 2023 was managing expectations, to the extent that it called into question the team's working methodology during race weekends.
"Most of the time, we see Aprilia leading on Fridays, which is absolutely useless and disappointing because it raises expectations at the start of the weekend. You think it will be a good weekend, but too often, it hasn't been that way," acknowledged the team manager. "We should reflect on whether we are working the right way or not. But with the format we have, where the second practice session becomes a sort of qualification, there is also the fear of not making it to Q2. Working only for the Sunday race is something that perhaps can be done only if the bike's level is very high, or if you start like KTM, which can easily recover three rows on the grid."
Having learned their lesson, Aprilia will not repeat the same mistake in preparation for the next World Championship.
