Aprilia has announced Jorge Martín as one of its riders for MotoGP in 2025. The contract was secured quickly, according to Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola, who provided some details about the entire process.
This afternoon, the Italian spoke to the press about the announcement of the new rider: ‘Obviously I’m super happy, it’s a good opportunity. It’s part of the growth of the team. I should start thanking to many people, but first of all to our boss Michele Colaninno. Nothing more to say. The championship is still quite long. Luckly we have a bit of a break, so we need to digest it and then be back and focused for the next race. And before that, go to Misano to our party of Aprilia All Stars’.
Talks with other riders only began after Aleix Espargaró announced his retirement, according to Rivola: ‘As I always said to you, if someone ask me, since Aleix decided to retire, we started talking with everybody. The strategy was quite clear not doing the first move, because we didn’t want to do any gift to anyone. But when we felt that there was an opportunity – that was actually last night – we were quite fast in making action rather than talk. We found a deal very, very quickly – also thanks to Aleix to do that. And here we are’.
The Aprilia CEO added: ‘I think timing was a factor, because we really were very fast. Last night I called my boss and I said: «We have a chance». And he said: «Go for it». And I did it. We had all the team, the legal guys that worked during the night to get it done. I don’t know if it is based on emotions, but I like to think that Jorge’s choice is because Aprilia did a consistent growth throughout the years. We are actually the only ones winning races so far as alternative to his current bike. It’s another item of the puzzle to fix it’.
That answer from Piaggio Group’s top boss, Michele Colaninno, was not surprising to Rivola: ‘The answer… my boss is quite hungry and we need to find very motivated and hungry riders. I’m not surprised actually, because I saw in the past every year we are growing in terms of resources and the bike is the result of that. It’s quite a good news. I cannot show that I’m super happy, but I am super happy’.
As for the moment when he learned of Martín’s acceptance, the Noale manufacturer’s team leader said: ‘It was, let’s say, in the evening, but I immediatly called my boss. Obviously after Barcelona we started thinking and talking with riders – not just with Jorge – to understand what was the feeling of the riders’ market. And that’s it’.
Regarding the apparent rush to make the announcement, Rivola clarified: ‘I think that announcing at this point, being the first to announce, it shows that we can do things quickly and we can decide quickly. So it was just part of «let’s fix it, it’s done, and let’s focus on the next step»’.