RS-GP 2026 is coming: Aprilia to unveil the liveries on January 15 and dreams of overtaking Ducati

Does Aprilia have the potential to snatch the MotoGP World Championship from their Ducati cousins? "We’re not hiding, it’s good for the company’s growth," confides Massimo Rivola, CEO of the racing division.

The Noale brand has definitely raised the bar with Marco Bezzecchi’s thunderous end to the season, who in his first year with the RS-GP won three GPs. "Our late-season surge coincided with the absence of Marc Marquez," admits Rivola in an interview with the print edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport. "But in the last races we were fast. Beating him (Marc Marquez, ed.) is our big challenge; we hope to be the ones to go and catch him."

The Romagna rider was Aprilia’s big ace. "After the initial and inevitable struggle to adapt at Silverstone (the first win, ed.) there was a turning point. I trust that Marco can fight for the World Championship, and he trusts that Aprilia can allow him to do so. Empathy is fuel for performance because trust is the foundation." On what Bezzecchi still lacks for the final step, Rivola is clear. "He has no reverential fear; I’d like to see him with a teammate next to him at 100%."

Aprilia will unveil the 2026-livery RS-GPs on January 15 in the Sky studios in Milan. A big question hangs over the Noale brand’s season: can Jorge Martin be brought back and serve the cause after a disastrous season marked by injuries and the desire to go to Honda? "A normal person, after what happened to him, I don’t know if they recover in a year, let alone someone who races motorcycles. The rest, including the legal aspect, are consequences: I understand that in the hospital with a punctured lung you might get signals telling you not to continue. Now he needs to be guided to have patience: first aim for the top 15, then the top 10, then the top 5..."

Massimo Rivola comes from Formula 1, so it’s no surprise that he hopes MotoGP—now that it shares the same owner, Liberty Media—will experience the same surge in success that has swept through car racing. "I hope the new promoter brings interest to MotoGP from higher-level commercial partners and widens the appeal beyond the traditional motorcycle world, just as happened with Formula 1, which is now followed by kids who previously didn’t pay attention to it."