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The coming week is a big one for both the improving Aprilia MotoGP team and three-time championship runner-up Andrea Dovizioso.
Aprilia team boss Massimo Rivola insists there is no pressure on 35-year-old Dovizioso’s shoulders when he tests the Italian firm’s RS-GP for the first time – but admits that he’s nonetheless hoping for a fairytale outcome to the three days at Jerez.
Dovizioso’s first chance to ride a MotoGP machine since splitting with Ducati at the end of the 2020 season begins on Monday.
His private test with Aprilia is taking place with a view to seeing what’s possible for the future.
Will it just be a one-off cameo that leads nowhere? Or is this the shock route back onto the grid for Marc Marquez’s former title rival, and a chance for long-struggling Aprilia to make a game-changing signing?
“I am very curious to see what the feeling he has with the bike is and what he thinks of us,” Rivola tells The Race.
“I think it is more a chance for him to test us than for us to test him!
“At the moment, it’s just to test the bike and tell us what he thinks, and then after that we will see.
“It would be a nice story, of course, to have an Italian rider on an Italian bike.
“I would be a liar if I told you that I don’t care about Dovizioso and that one test is fine!
“But I don’t think that will be the condition. He wants to keep some good training, to keep the MotoGP feeling, and we need someone with that kind of experience so at the moment it is a win-win situation with no stress.
“If things go well, maybe we will start putting on some stress, and if things don’t go as well, we’ll take the opportunity and carry on. We’re quite relaxed about that.”
Former Ferrari Formula 1 sporting director Rivola admits that he’s hoping that the test is a success – and in this particular case success could well be measured by how keen Dovizioso is to try out the bike again.
With Aprilia set to head to Italy for another test in early May, rumours have already started to suggest that Dovizioso is also keen to sample the bike out at a second circuit – but Rivola says that nothing is planned just yet.
“We have a test in Mugello, and maybe that’s why there are rumours!” Rivola jokes.
“If he tells us after Jerez ‘why don’t we go to Mugello too?’ then I’ll be the happiest man in the world.
“It allows him to test the bike on two completely different track layouts, but really – and I’m not lying – we’re just taking it as it is.
“We’re concentrating on Jerez for now, which is fine, although I’m still a little scared every time he goes to ride motocross!”
The second test could be the crucial one for both Dovizioso and Aprilia, if it happens.
The experience running from at a wholly different venue is likely to give him a clearer picture of the bike’s potential, and that could have a big role in shaping his future decisions.
Sources close to Dovizioso have confirmed to The Race that wildcard appearances in MotoGP with Aprilia are possible – but the team would probably require Dovizioso to commit to a future relationship beyond just 2021 before they go ahead.
Rivola says that’s something Aprilia is ready to act upon should 15-time MotoGP race-winner Dovizioso make the call, but he’s trying not to worry too much about those conversations right now.
“To be honest, I think that it’s too optimistic to think about him doing a wildcard with us for this year, because if a rider like Dovi wants to do a wildcard with us – and he can do six, if he wants to! – then he isn’t just coming to the racetrack after 10 or 15 races expecting to be a bit behind,” says Rivola.
“I’m not thinking about it. It would be a nice target for our future, but for many aspects – his experience, his talent, the weight he brings.
“He came to Noale to have a look at our factory and to do some fitting work, and it felt very professional, dedicated, and committed to the small details.
“A rider like that helps you to grow the entire company. For sure it would be a help for Aleix [Espargaro] as well.”
Should things not work out with Dovizioso, Rivola also confirmed that there is an Aprilia back-up plan: its former rider Bradley Smith.
Aprilia is now the only squad on the grid without a full-time test rider after Lorenzo Savadori was promoted to race duties without Smith’s services being retained for 2021.
Rivola hopes Smith can be ‘re-recruited’ should Aprilia need an experienced rider on test duties if Dovizioso doesn’t continue.
“Bradley Smith would be the best possible solution for us,” Rivola admits, “because he knows the 2019 bike, he knows the 2020 bike, and he is a sort of a plug and play option.
“But having the chance of Dovizioso, even if it’s only 1%, is a chance that we have to try.
“If we can make it, it’s great, and if we can’t, let’s see if Bradley is still available.
“I don’t think we should be blamed for trying to get Dovizioso.”
