Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola believes Jorge Martin’s MotoGP 2025 move to Aprilia will dispel the rumours surrounding his future and take “a weight off his shoulders”.
On Monday evening Aprilia officially announced Martin as its new signing on a multi-year deal, replacing Aleix Espargaro, who will retire at the end of the 2024 season.
Events transpired last weekend which suggested Martin had earned a works Ducati seat, but the marque appears to have changed its mind and picked Marc Marquez.
Despite Ducati asking Martin for time to keep him on a Ducati bike in some form for next season, the championship leader declined and chose to jump ship to Aprilia.
Speaking to the media, Rivola stated that he thinks the switch has eradicated the concerns that lingered over Martin and what his prospects for 2025 were going to be.
‘This is a question we should ask Jorge. I can only say that I am very happy that he has taken it, and if he is angry it is possible that he will be a tenth faster next year,” he said.
“I don’t know, but I can honestly say that I have seen Jorge happy, very happy. Maybe in his head it wasn’t clear that he had to make a decision, but he made it.
“I saw Jorge happy, and I saw Aleix excited and happy to welcome him. I think it was a moment in which Jorge made an important decision and took a weight off his shoulders.
“I want to think that Jorge has made a decision and that he will be happy that he has made it.”
Rivola admitted that he didn’t expect Martin to become available on the market, but was delighted as he considers the Spaniard a “top signing” for the Italian marque.
“The truth is that I didn’t imagine that a rider like Jorge was going to be free on the market,” he conceded.
“When I started to see what Ducati was doing and that the possibility came up, we took it immediately.”
Rivola expressed Aprilia’s interest in Martin heightened following Espargaro’s retirement announcement last month, citing that the outfit then began to make a move.
“When Aleix told us in Barcelona that he is retiring at the end of the season, we started to take an interest in the possibilities,” he explained.
“Surely my moves have motivated others to make decisions, as first they said they were going to announce it in Mugello, then they said they weren’t.
“We adapted to Aleix’s decision, which was to be in Italy but he wanted to do it at home and we brought it forward, and I have to say that it was lucky, because that advance is what allowed us to start talking to Jorge, and seeing him so motivated and happy to sign for us makes us very happy too.”
Martin’s team-mate upon his Aprilia arrival has not been announced to this point, but Rivola has outlined that retaining Maverick Vinales would be his preferred choice.
“I also consider Maverick to be a top rider, and to have a pairing with the two of them, for me, would be the strongest pairing in the championship,” he said.
“But you can’t always have what you want.
“Today we were presented with the opportunity to sign Martin and we took it on the fly, with speed and determination. The fastest contract in history.
“Surely of all the offers Jorge had, ours, although respectable, was probably not the highest, but the quality of the team and the work we are doing and the work that Aleix has spoken to him about has convinced him.”
