Rivola (Aprilia) on Bezzecchi’s crash: “A lesson for me too”

The negative headline of the Brno GP: the MotoGP championship leader did not line up at the Czech Grand Prix. Whilst Marc Márquez triumphed for the second time in a row, Marco Bezzecchi looked on helplessly. After Bezzecchi struck a marshal immediately following his crash, the FIM race stewards saw only one solution – an immediate ban from the event.

Bezzecchi’s employer, Aprilia Racing, had lodged an appeal within the deadline – though not to challenge the penalty itself. Racing CEO Massimo Rivola confirmed this during a specially convened press conference. As previously stated in writing, Rivola also emphasised in person: “There is no question that a penalty was warranted here. We, too, apologise to the marshal. However, we felt the penalty was disproportionate. I had already anticipated a severe penalty such as a hefty fine or a grid penalty, but not a ban from the race.”

Rivola continued: “In the past, there have been several comparable situations in which riders who had crashed lost control – I recall the incident involving Morbidelli and Aleix Espargaró (note: 2025 Silverstone GP). At the time, there were no consequences whatsoever. There haven’t been such severe penalties before. But I’d like to emphasise once again: we accept this. There is zero tolerance for such behaviour.”

The boss of the Aprilia Racing unit also addressed the incident itself once more. “We have to make a distinction – Marco’s initial reaction, where he tried to ‘save’ his bike after the crash, is completely understandable to me. Everything that came after that was unacceptable.” He was referring to Bezzecchi’s slap to the eager marshal Ladislav.

In Brünn emotional am Anschlag: WM-Leader Marco Bezzecchi

Foto: motogp.com

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Rivola wasn’t looking for an excuse, but he did take his rider’s side: “What you often don’t see from the outside is the extraordinary situation the riders find themselves in – they give absolutely everything – and I mean absolutely everything – for what they do; they put their whole hearts into it. It’s also a joy to work with people like that – who simply give their all for their cause. But at the same time, it requires a special approach when dealing with them. For me personally, this is also a lesson.”

The outburst by Aprilia’s racing hero Marco Bezzecchi in the gravel trap at Brno was not shown on the official TV feed. How did the incident come to the attention of Aprilia’s management? Massimo Rivola admitted: “At first, we didn’t realise what had actually happened. When Marco came back to the pits after the race, he was still buzzing with adrenaline. He explained that he’d been trying to protect his bike from a marshal who’d damaged the engine. At that moment, I spoke to my world-class athlete, a rider who competes for us to win races and set records. Once again: I’m not saying that justifies it, but that was the immediate situation.”

The Aprilia works team, which has dominated the World Championship for much of the season, also suffered a major setback in Brno from a sporting perspective. With two zero-point finishes and two podium finishes for Marc Marquez, their comfortable lead has shrunk dramatically. Mathematically speaking, the world champion could move into second place as early as the next GP at Assen – just one week from now. Marquez is still 40 points behind Bezzecchi.