Aprilia: MotoGP needs Liberty 'magic touch' amid KTM crisis

The KTM crisis that threatens the future of its MotoGP team drives home the need for Formula 1 owner Liberty Media's takeover to go through - and for Liberty to work its "magic" on the championship.

This is the position of Aprilia motorsport boss Massimo Rivola, who argued during Aprilia's MotoGP season launch that the series both isn't getting the audience right now that its action deserves and that the expenditure in it currently is higher than it needs to be.

"That is one of my points of never-ending discussion with Carmelo [Ezpeleta, boss of MotoGP promoter Dorna] and, let's say, the MotoGP environment," said Rivola.

"I still believe that our sport, our business is a bit too expensive. And I think we don't need really that much to provide a good show, to provide that we have a sort of aircraft on two wheels.

"There are things that, in my opinion, could be managed a bit better, regulated a bit better. But when you make a rule then you need to be in a position to control the rule, I understand it.

"But the warning that we got from the KTM situation shouldn't be taken like, 'OK, what bad luck'. I think we should do something and I hope that in the near future, for the next let's say five-year contract, we will discuss it again."

MotoGP's next rules cycle begins in 2027 and all the manufacturers will need to sign new five-year deals with Dorna for their participation.

Unlike its four-wheeled counterpart F1, MotoGP does not have a cost cap, and while there are other forms of cost control in place - testing restrictions, aero homologation rules and an engine freeze covering 2025 and 2026 - they don't necessarily prevent heavy spending.

The development of aero in MotoGP has been a particularly notable driver of that, also because the series' aero regulations only restrict the aero devices on certain areas of the bike - allowing effectively unlimited development on others.

The aero rules are being reworked for 2027, although there have been different viewpoints over whether the currently proposed reduction in aerodynamic devices is sufficient.

KTM has been a big spender in MotoGP, although the wider company's financial strife is not connected to that. While its overall motorsport expenditure has been described as unusually large for a company of its size during its current insolvency process, even its MotoGP budget is effectively a drop in the ocean compared to its current liabilities.

However, that budget becomes an easy candidate for cuts in a situation like the one KTM finds itself in - and while a manufacturer exit is something any manufacturer-based motorsport series has to steel itself for and have contingencies for, MotoGP isn't thought to have an obvious replacement marque it could just easily slot in for KTM.

"I don't think we will lose KTM," said Rivola. "And I think the championship needs KTM.

"It's time to deliver good news to MotoGP - we provide, I think, the best show ever, and we are not getting back I think what we are delivering.

"So I would be very keen to see Liberty on board, since normally let's say the Americans are quite good in terms of marketing - according to what they did in F1, looks like they have a sort of magic touch.

"We need that magic touch also in MotoGP, because it's a beautiful sport. And I would say that riders are sort of superheroes and we need to show to the world what they are."

Liberty's MotoGP takeover was announced in April last year, but remains subject to regulatory approval.

The European Commission announced late last year that it would conduct a 'Phase 2' investigation into the takeover, in order to verify that it would adhere to competitive principles - due to "preliminary concerns that the transaction could lead to higher prices for the licensing of broadcasting rights for motorsports events hosted by both parties", namely F1 and MotoGP.