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Massimo Rivola is very clear about the matter when he says that it is very unlikely that Aprilia will go back to competing in SBK, at least in the short term. The reason is to be found in the current dynamics of the category dedicated to production-derived machinery which do not fit well with the strategies of the Noale manufacturer and the characteristics of its bike.
In particular, the crux of the matter concerns the regulations. MotoGP bikes are currently much faster than Superbikes, but the possibility of limiting them to reduce their danger is currently a matter under much discussion. On the contrary, in the championship dedicated to the production-based bikes, also organized by Dorna, the desire today is to imitate the top class.
“In my opinion, making MotoGP slower is not a smart move, first of all because we cannot be less competitive compared to the Superbikes – the manager from Faenza told Speed Week – Secondly, a spending cap should be introduced for production bikes, because it is ridiculous to allow vehicles costing 45 thousand euros to fight against others costing 25 thousand."
At present, therefore, participation in Superbike is impossible. “We are not interested in getting into it as it looks like a B-series version of MotoGP. Whenever there are fair regulations, however, we will be very happy", reflected the 52-year-old, pointing the finger at Ducati, guilty of acting as a puppet master both with regards to the evolution of the bikes and their price.
"The only future I see for Superbike is to follow the rules of Superstock - he added – As a result, they should continue to keep the name by removing only the indicators and rear-view mirrors from the equipment. This is the message that most of the manufacturers want to send because the goal is to sell bikes."
