Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola has outlined the squad’s ambition to beat Ducati’s Marc Marquez in a straight duel before the end of the 2025 MotoGP season.
Factory Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi came close to ending Ducati’s dominant streak in the recent San Marino Grand Prix, only missing out by 0.568s after a race-long battle with the factory bike of Marquez.
That near miss followed Bezzecchi’s breakthrough Aprilia win in May’s red-flagged British Grand Prix, where he became the only non-Ducati rider to triumph in dry conditions this year.
However, the Silverstone race came with an asterisk, as Marquez endured a rare off weekend and finished more than six seconds behind in third. It also relied on a breakdown by Fabio Quartararo's Yamaha, which had been leading comfortably.
Moreover, that race also came before Marquez began his dominant run at Aragon, which has seen him rack up eight grand prix wins and as many sprint victories in just nine weekends.
Rivola hopes Bezzecchi’s performance at Misano will serve as inspiration for the entire Noale factory and help the team achieve his newly set target of beating an in-form Marquez in the final rounds of the season.
“At the moment we are behind the number 93, clearly,” he said after Misano. “But thanks to the attitude of Marco, the mission is to try to beat him before the end of the season.
“Maybe at least just once, but that is something that in Noale we need to realise we can do.
“Marco will have the chance again, and we will have the chance to fight with Marc and also with other riders.
