This year, Aprilia had a satellite team for the first time in MotoGP – RNF. The partnership was complicated in terms of results, falling somewhat short of expectations – with some bad luck and also with the problems that arose with the main sponsor of the Malaysian team, CryptoDATA.
The CEO of Aprilia, Massimo Rivola, told the site SPEEDWEEK.com that he expected more from Miguel Oliveira… although he is not harsh on the Portuguese rider:
– It could be said that we expected a bit more from Miguel, but too many things happened. Besides, he became a father again recently and we are happy for him, but there are things you don’t know if something bothers him and makes him lose a few tenths, even though he says he’s fine. And if you lose two tenths, that’s two rows on the grid.
About Raúl Fernández, the Italian – who considers that this season has ended up being ‘a bit unlucky’ for the RNF – was satisfied: ‘I am happy with Raúl, honestly. It is up to us to make the bike more reliable and find performance. But I hope that next year he will bother the other Aprilia riders more and that was the goal‘.
