Davide Brivio returns to MotoGP this year as the team principal of Trackhouse Racing, where Miguel Oliveira and Raúl Fernández are the riders. The premier class is different from when he left at the end of 2020, admitting that he still needs to get reacquainted with the championship.
The Italian explained that it is early at this stage to make assessments about what might be achievable in the races: ‘It’s also difficult to judge in a test. You always have to see maybe two, three, four races into the championship. Because in the test maybe you do a fast lap. But can you do 15 or 25 fast laps? Can you be constant? How is the consumption? So, there are many things’.
On the other hand, Brivio explained that MotoGP is very different now, considering the pace of development of the bikes: ‘I have to make up my idea and I need to collect more information, but as far as I can see, a little bit also in the past years, with these aerodynamics, development, probably the riders have to develop different skills, different ways to ride the bike. And you can see even within the same brand, maybe somebody is very happy, somebody cannot adjust to the bike. I think in the future will become another variable, maybe you have two riders, they can be both very happy, and maybe one is happy and one cannot adjust. Because you always need to adjust your riding style to the aerodynamics, devices and all this stuff. I have the impression it’s becoming… I wouldn’t say a different sport, but you need a different approach compared to a few years ago, when the bike was changing, evolving, but let’s say was always the same bike. Maybe having a better engine, a better chassis. Here the steps are much bigger and consequently is much harder to the rider to adapt to those things’.
The Trackhouse Racing team principal illustrated with the case of Oliveira, who found a 2024 Aprilia RS-GP very different from the 2022 one he rode last year: ‘Miguel jumped from the 2022 to the 2024. It seems to be a big jump. My feeling was like he almost changed the brand. It’s not just an evolution, it’s a big jump. So this tells you how much difference there is within one or two years between a bike and another’.