Latest / Pit Talk / EXCLUSIVE Massimo Rivola: From Formula 1 to MotoGP - The Aprilia Revolution

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EXCLUSIVE Massimo Rivola: From Formula 1 to MotoGP - The Aprilia Revolution · Pit Talk

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Pit Talk podcast sponsored by Shannon's Insurance.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: In this special episode, Matt Clayton sits down with a
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: prely erasing CEO, Massimo Rivla to talk all things a
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Moto GP, a Prillius Rise, Liberty Media's takeover, and of
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: course Formula one For those who don't know, Masimo has
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: a four wheel background before he came to two wheels,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: so Matt dived into the archives to talk about that,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: but also the crossovers between the two and four wheel racing,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: evolution of a previous project, and what the future of
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Moto GP could look like under the new ownership. So
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: tune in for this exclusive interview with Massimo Rivler.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: We're here with a Prilli erasing CEO, Massimo Rivla. Massima,
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: thank you for joining us. Firstly, you we're speaking to
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: you before Australia you come here. Second in the Constructors Champion.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: Good season for the team, Maybe the story of how
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: you got to this has been a little bit different
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: than you expected. How do you sum up the year
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: because results it's been good.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: I sum up that the expectations were much higher than
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: that at the beginning of the season. But overall I
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: would say that we should be happy about what was
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: done with what we had at the Mona. So how
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: we faced the problem and we took we transformed the
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: problem in opportunities. So happy the way that the company reacted.
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: I'm very very happy about the growth of Markopki. I
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: think he showed that we knew that it was super
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: fast in terms of talent and natural speed, but we
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: did know him as a deep worker and it was
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: really good to see him growing together with us as
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: with the right altitude, you know, that is something that
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: is quite important for me and I think it's the
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: one of the key to growth to be to get
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: the right attitude, to to to manage to analyze really
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: even in a tough moment, the things that are working
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: well and to modify what is not working. So it
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: was for me quite a I don't want to say
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: a surpriser, but it was a very good confirmation that
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: for sure Marco is one of the guy that have
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: a good margin to growth together with us. Obviously we
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: are missing at the World champion, so who knows what
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: we could have done with the two riders like that,
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: but you know, we cannot come back, so better to
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: look forward than having the best recovery for organ and
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: hopefully I'm really looking forward to see Horgan spank next
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: year to start again, but we didn't start this year,
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: and having him working on the bike and not just
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: getting they said that. I don't want to say the panic,
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: but you know, with this kind of format whereas we
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: can you have one session and then you're going to
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: qualifying best on Friday already, so it's difficult to work
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: for yourself to understand the bike. You just look at
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: the stop watch when the laptime, and so we need him.
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: The most important day I think this year with Orgy
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: was the testing mission because he had one day to
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: was say, okay, let's see how do I feel an
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: ergonomic point of view, things to understand on the bike
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: and in my alledge, but my allege doing properly for
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: himself to understand the bank.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: I do want to come back to Johei, but you're
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: talking about Bess before. I remember when you signed him
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: in twenty four you said we hope we get the
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty three Bears and not the twenty twenty four Bears.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: Because the twenty twenty three Bears was so good. I
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: would argue you've actually got a different base than twenty
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: three and twenty four because he's had to become a
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: lead now and leader in a factory situation. It's, you know,
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: been a big year of growth for him.
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: Yes, he did. I think this one is better than
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: a twenty three one mm. I think he still have
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: a margin. And he became a leader also because we
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: were lacking on the other side of the of the
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: garage because of Orgy was missing. I have to say
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: that Orgo was replaced by Isava and Sava did a
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: great job to the helping marketing development the bike because
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: he was sort of scrubbing many things that then with
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: passed to Mark and it worked at the end. Maybe
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: you just see Sava on the lap times and you
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: see most of the time on the bottom part of
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: the classification, but it's not doing the job that is
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: the Marco is doing. So we needed to do also
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: to say him for the job that he has done.
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: He was an opportunity for him to do manors again
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: here in Melbourne and in Sepanga. He will he will
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: raise and we will use him to test of your
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: stuff and at the end the yeah, coming back to Marco,
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: he became the leader and This makes things even more
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: interesting when will be back, because I'm sure that wants
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: to be adder, so it will be a nice.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: Fake the Jo Hay story. This for so much of
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: this year, it was like a hot story. It was
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: a very very hot story every single race weekend. It's
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: a different job for you as a leader to have
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: to manage that because you're responsible for the writers and
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: the entire team. For you, this is not something you
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: can practice for as a leader as a CEO. So
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: how was that for you? Because you had to hold
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: the line, but you also had to make Wohey feel
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: that he was wanted and you put an arm around
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: his shoulder and make him want to come back.
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: I think that, yeah, that's not training to for what happened,
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: especially this year, are quite quite stranger. But in a way,
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: I I really understand what happened in in his mind
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: because if you know him, you know, you start knowing
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: him a bit more deeply during during the season and
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: you understand that it is someone super active. So the
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: way he's thinking is super faster, so he's always overthinking
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: what I'm gonna do? What to do? Now? What they
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: have to do is it's something that is okay they come,
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: you know sometimes, but it's like that, and I can't
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: imagine a guy like that stopped on a on a bed,
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: on on an hospital thinking about what is going to
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: be my future. Maybe I crash, maybe this bike is
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: not for me. I was so start losing the trust
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: and the confidence in himself I can do things. So
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: it makes absolutely sense. So obviously, then at the same time,
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: I get opportunities from the bigger manufacturers with big offer
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: and it's fine. I totally understand. I put myself in
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: issues and I was wondering if I would have done
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: the same from It's difficult because I'm not so superactive,
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: you know, in the terms of overthinking, but for many
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: other things I am. I'm not the guy that is
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: always I'm the guy that is always unsatisfactory, you know,
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: not everything a result. So I'm a bit of opinion
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: else in a way. So I understand that I can
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: be like that. So at the same time, we did
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: a bigger force to have him. We wanted him. We
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: choose him because we have the opportunity. And when we
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: were Mujel last year, I couldn't believe that we signed
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: organ It really was, I mean, super happy, and I
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: was convinced that he would have become the number one
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: on the grid. So and I thought, having Marco beside
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: the Organ, I think Marco can go up to speed
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: with someone like Organ. That is the sort of you
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: know he has got that last year we saw and
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: not just last year in his career. Yes, that he
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: has that kind of momb so super lap last year
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: here I think he did. He gave more than a
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: second to the second in in a single lap. So
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: when you have someone like that and you have another
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: super fast rider the other one, I'm sure that he
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: will learn. Now we will find ourselves in the opposite
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: condition with the super fast that now is the leader
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: and the champion that then needs to learn from the
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: current reader. And I'm sure that the champion will have
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: to be So I think we are going to have
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: awfully a bit more relaxed season in a way, but
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: at the same time a difficult season to manage two
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: riders that wants to win. That is the target.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: Now we're also a Formula one podcast as well as
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: a Moto GP podcast. You have ties in Formula one,
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: I have ties in Formula one. I wanted to ask
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: you about Liberty coming in with Moto GP because you know,
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: you would obviously see what's going on in Formula one
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: and how the store sport has just grown so much.
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: Knowing what you know about how that sport works, and
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: what's something like Liberty could do for Moto GP. Where
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: do you see this going? Because it seems like good news,
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: but do Moto GP fans really understand what might be coming.
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: So, first of all, I think Liberty and Estate if
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: a deli great job. Obviously it's not mean to say
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: it's the numbers are Second, I don't think that we
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: have to do a sort of copy and paste because
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: we have different culture and in this tourist worlder there
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: are things that maybe cannot work if done in the
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: same way that are done in in Formula one. I
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: think that this sport in particular gets a bit more
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: of deep passion. So to live there is we can
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: to leave the bike. I mean, I'm a biker and
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: I really you know, when I take my bike is
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: something so special while I'm riding on track or off track?
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: I feel, yeah, really it's something that it's difficult to describe.
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: What the leady managed to do. I think in the
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: fun was first of all, to get the audience of
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: people that normally were not watching we're not watching Formula
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: One because they didn't really care, they didn't even know
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: for no one. They managed to get young people, they
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: managed to get girls, they managed to get they managed
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: to transform Formula One in a sort of cool brand
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: that is cool to attend. The event here is, let's
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: see racing is a bit different. It can I think
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: this can be also a very good event. I think
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: we need to show everybody that our riders are not
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: just our riders, but all the riders I MotoGP are
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: superheroes and we need to describe them in a deep way.
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: What they are doing. All there is they take every
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: single corner. I was watching the race of last year
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: here and I saw the sprint where Maverick and Best
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: crash at Turuan. It was impressive, and the day after
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: they were both of the Green Racing. It's something that
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: you said, those guys are crazy totally. So I think
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: there are huge stories behind them. I think that the
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: behind the scene of MotoGP is something cool as the
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: behind the scene of Formula One. Maybe with less money,
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: less business, but it doesn't mean that necessarily if there
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: are less money around it is worst I think here
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: more than in F one. You can you can. That
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: is also the good aspect for us as a prillier
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: to you can win even if you don't have I mean,
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: if you think about progressing sell sixty thousand and two
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: winks in the war and it's part of a group
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: PRG group that is selling less than five hundred thousand
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: bikes on the eight millions sorry, eighteen millions. Yes, so
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: obviously we are speaking about different entities. But a prillia
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: can be onder and this is something that in the
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: in F one it's a bit more difficult because the
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: what you can find here is the human factor have
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: a stronger value, a bigger percentage, not just from the
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: right point of view, but also from the team point
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: of view, manufacturer point of view. In motor GP, good
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: ideas maybe can work better, or good management can work
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: can have can mean more performance. So there are a
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: few things that that are quite interesting in a world
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: that there can be a big motivation from a new
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: guy that wants to study something around a motorbike, or
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: engineering or mechanics or even management that or marketing. I'm
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: sure here there will be a growth on term of
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: marketing commercial communication in the next three years also thanks
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: to Liberty. I'm sure Liberty will push Thatta. That can
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: be something that the young generation can appreciate a lot.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: One final question for you. We were talking before about
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: Formula One and you're working for Australians in the past. Now,
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: if I'm correct, I think you started in two thousand
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: and one with Polestar.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: Is it correctly, Yeah, post we started, I started in
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: ninety eight and then in two thousand and one Paula
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: join the team.
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: So tell us about that first Australian Grand Prix because
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: if I remember rightly, I don't think I remember. I
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: don't think the car had run in a straight line
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: before Melbourne. So no, that was two thousand and one.
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: That was two thousand and one.
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that was the first time we put the car
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: together and it was on track and we had two riders.
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: One was tars Marcus, yes, that raced for a Minard
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: in ninety seven, and the other one was a kid called.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: So whatever happened to him, Huh.
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: Frando was straight away unbelievable, incredible, were really incredible. The
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: car was it was not too bad considering what we
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: had to make the car, The engine was downpowered a
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: lot compared to the top one. But I tell you
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: that the first proper time we raced with Pauli here
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: in two thousand and two, remember well yeah we had
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: we were We raced with Mark Webber. I think Mark,
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: now we will be in Austin for one with an
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: oscar and he did P five and the other rider
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: was Alex Junk. Yes that he finished P seven but
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: at the time only the first six car got all
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: the points. But can imagine an Australian owner with the
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: smallest team in the PUDOC going to Australias on race
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: and scoring points with the Australian rider driver was I
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: mean people were crying, We were crying, but it was
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: I would never and I will never forget. Also Mark
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: was quite special and was quite quite super fast.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: Probably still the greatest memory in Australian Formula one history
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: outside that event.
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: For me personally, absolutely yes, but I don't know, maybe
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: for the Australians hopefully too. But also it's good that
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: in countries like Australia or US the name of that
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: team Minardi was. You know, we had the fun clubs
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: in San Francisco, in in Montreal, in you know Minardi.
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: We were when the company was sold to Red Buller.
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: We were ninety one in the old company doing Formulajuan. Yeah,
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: and we were also doing the gearbox, so we were
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: just buying the engine. So it was I mean, those
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: ninety guys, you know, we have to do many things.
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: And it was a sort of fantastic gym for me
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: Osini because I'm not a technical guy. I'm not an engineer.
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: I'm coming from He did the University economy. But you
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: need to learn many, many things when you are so
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: much in the ship. But it was such a good experience.
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: Gian Carlo Minardi, the founder, was still a great guy.
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: I'm still in contact with him. And Paul was somewhat
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: quite He was quite a clever guy.
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm sure he's still quite a good He's still
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: quite a clever guy. He was a force of nature,
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: and yeah, you had the University of Life.
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: Working for But he invented two sitter. Yes, he took
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: a tyroll. He cut the fuel tank by twenty five centimeters,
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: not much. He made a bit longer car with the
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: same chassis he put together and they did something maybe
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: with dangerous, but the experience itself, you did consider you
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: really get the feeling of a Formula one car at
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: the time, obviously with the proper sound was still aviator
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: and not at the current. That is something that I
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: don't like at all about.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: Form Yeah, you and lots of other people massive. I
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: could talk post on our stories with you all day,
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: but we'll get on with you we can. Thanks so
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: much for joining us on the podcast. Thank you, my pleasure,
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Pleasure Pleasure.
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: Thanks