Reigning world champion Márquez once trailed the leader by a massive 102 points, but staged a dramatic comeback to head into the summer break third in the Riders’ Standings, sitting just 18 points adrift of championship leader Jorge Martín.
“As I’ve been saying since day one, we don’t look at the standings, and even less so right now,” Rivola stated during an interview with Italian broadcaster Sky Sports. “We know we have extremely strong riders across both our factory and satellite setups. We know the bike is highly competitive, so I’ve always felt this championship would be decided only in the final race,” he continued.
“It’s fantastic to be right in the thick of this battle, and it’s incredible to be part of an all-Italian title fight of this caliber,” he noted. “Like I said, I believe we’ll be fighting all the way to the final round.”
Despite pointing to another rider as the odds-on favorite, Rivola promised that Aprilia has no intention of backing down.
“We know there’s a guy named Marc Márquez who clearly holds the upper hand in every prediction,” he pointed out. “He is the favorite, but we will never give up.”
MotoGP now enters its summer break before returning to action August 7–9 for the British Grand Prix, Round 12 of the 2026 season.
