Photo: Red Bull KTM Factory Racing / Twitter
Many attribute Aprilia’s newfound success in MotoGP to the arrival of Massimo Rivola as CEO back in 2019. Rivola had previously worked as sporting director for Ferrari in Formula 1 and also held roles with both Toro Rosso and Minardi.
His first order of business was to bring in talent from F1, specifically engineers to help Aprilia better understand aerodynamics and tire degradation.
Well, it would appear that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, which is why the Red Bull KTM factory team is now looking to copy Aprilia’s approach.
According to KTM CEO Stefan Pierer, his outfit has decided to bring in engineers from Red Bull’s Formula 1 team come 2023, reports Motorsport.
“Aprilia incorporated F1 experience. The new boss [Rivola] is very smart; I like him a lot. He came from F1 and brought with him a lot of experience at the aerodynamics level. […] Next year we are going to increase our commitment to staff coming from F1.”
“Luckily, we have a long-standing relationship with Red Bull, which is a winning team, so we know which door to knock on. Red Bull has hundreds of aerodynamics technicians with a lot of experience. That will be one of the keys in 2023.”
Pierer went on to add that he’s quite happy to have three European manufacturers taking on two Japanese brands (given that Suzuki will be departing MotoGP).
“I love that there will be competition between the European manufacturers. I like to beat the Japanese brands, it’s as simple as that.”
From a fan’s perspective, KTM bringing in Red Bull Racing engineers can’t be anything but a great idea, especially since Red Bull’s F1 team is currently dominating the 2022 season and is starting to look nearly unstoppable. Following his victory in Belgium, Max Verstappen now sits 93 points clear of teammate Sergio Perez in the standings and 98 points clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Well, it would appear that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, which is why the Red Bull KTM factory team is now looking to copy Aprilia’s approach.
According to KTM CEO Stefan Pierer, his outfit has decided to bring in engineers from Red Bull’s Formula 1 team come 2023, reports Motorsport.
“Aprilia incorporated F1 experience. The new boss [Rivola] is very smart; I like him a lot. He came from F1 and brought with him a lot of experience at the aerodynamics level. […] Next year we are going to increase our commitment to staff coming from F1.”
“Luckily, we have a long-standing relationship with Red Bull, which is a winning team, so we know which door to knock on. Red Bull has hundreds of aerodynamics technicians with a lot of experience. That will be one of the keys in 2023.”
Pierer went on to add that he’s quite happy to have three European manufacturers taking on two Japanese brands (given that Suzuki will be departing MotoGP).
“I love that there will be competition between the European manufacturers. I like to beat the Japanese brands, it’s as simple as that.”
From a fan’s perspective, KTM bringing in Red Bull Racing engineers can’t be anything but a great idea, especially since Red Bull’s F1 team is currently dominating the 2022 season and is starting to look nearly unstoppable. Following his victory in Belgium, Max Verstappen now sits 93 points clear of teammate Sergio Perez in the standings and 98 points clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
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