Aprilia on par with big guns?
Say it quietly, but there’s growing optimism that perennial underdogs Aprilia could finally pose a consistent race winning threat in MotoGP this year.
A second radical overhaul of the RS-GP in two years reaped instant reward in the first shakedown of 2022, with Aleix Espargaro only a whisker away from topping the timesheets on both days of testing at Sepang.
A slimmer version of the RS-GP appears to be a key tweak that’s accelerating performance of a machine which only scored Aprilia’s first podium in the fourstroke MotoGP era at Silverstone last year.
The improved agility was lauded by Espargaro. After finishing P1 on day one he said: “From lap one it helped me a lot, especially when it came to carrying speed in the fast corners.
“I feel I can throw the bike into the corners. I think the strongest point of our bike now is the turning.”
A measure of Aprilia’s growing stature was the fact that Espargaro was disappointed not to create history by becoming the first rider to deliver a sub 1:58 lap in Malaysia.
The 32-year-old veteran of nearly 300 GPs isn’t going to let his star billing in Sepang create too much pre-season hysteria, though. “It’s only testing,” Espargaro commented with a hefty dose of caution and reality.
“I remember in the past that at the Qatar test Marc Marquez and Andrea Dovizioso weren’t even inside the top 10 and then were first and second in the race,” he added.
But can Aprilia upset MotoGP’s established elite and be consistent front runners in 2022? “The bike is definitely better. Whether it’s enough, we will see during the races and our rivals will tell us,” added Espargaro.
Maverick Viñales, meanwhile, is starting to reward Aprilia for rescuing him from his Yamaha nightmare.
Fifth overall and only just over a tenth away from top spot, Viñales seems rejuvenated after his mid-season implosion last year and there was a subtle pop at former paymasters Yamaha.
He said: “I still don’t know the limit, but the important thing is we’re fast without pushing and I think I can be stronger with this bike than the previous one.”