The MotoGP manufacturers’ association MSMA elected Massimo Rivola as its new chairman on Monday – “engine freeze” was one of the topics of discussion
Massimo Rivola, CEO of Aprilia’s racing division, is to become the new president of the MotoGP World Championship Constructors’ Association (MSMA). This was announced on the fringes of the test preparations in Barcelona.
The Italian was elected in a vote on Monday, which took place during preparations for the collective test day to be held this Tuesday (November 19) at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
His election sees Rivola replace Stefan Pierer, the CEO of KTM, and take up the position for the next two years, with the option to extend the mandate to a total of four years. Rivola joined Aprilia in 2019, after a long career in Formula 1, where he worked at Toro Rosso and Ferrari.
The MSMA unites all the brands competing in the World Championship, although that doesn’t mean they always see eye to eye. Indeed, there has been tension within the organization recently, especially when discussing thorny issues.
A current example is the debate about the freezing of engines, which will come into force with the homologation of the powertrains for the next season (2025) and will be valid until the end of 2026, just before the new 850cc engines are introduced in 2027.
Although the technical regulations for this period have already been presented, the proposal leaves a lot of room for interpretation – a circumstance that traditionally provokes conflict between the constructors. Aprilia was among those most skeptical of the initiative.
Among other things, the Italian brand believes it is contradictory to introduce such a restriction in order to control costs, but to allow Yamaha to develop a V-engine with the current displacement size, even though it will have to switch to a smaller specification in less than two years.
The topics discussed in the MSMA meetings must always be ratified by the Grand Prix Commission. This is the governing body of the World Championship and consists of representatives of the manufacturers, the promoter (Dorna), the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) and the team association (IRTA).