Aprilia ready to battle Ducati? “Riders say bike is a step forwards”
The RS-GP will benefit from a new engine at the preseason Portimao test, Aprilia have confirmed, ready to do battle with their fellow Italian team.
Aleix Espargaro spent much of 2022 troubling Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo at the top of the MotoGP standings before his title challenge fell away, but Aprilia are bullish about the new season.
“After 10 days working here, we found a good base for the ‘23,” race manager Paolo Bonora said.
“We remained focused on the key parts that we brought here, particularly the aerodynamics.
“On the electronics side, we confirmed a few improvements that we developed during the winter.
“And we delivered the torque related to the engine.
“Both riders confirmed that the 2023 bike is a step forwards compared to the previous bike. We are so happy about the result because we did a very good job last year following the riders’ comments and in particular during the winter.
“I can confirm that in Portimao there will be another improvement to the engine.
“Following Sepang we will go back to the factory and review all comments from our four riders, including the satellite team.
“We will try to improve every area in which they say we need to take another step.”
Maverick Vinales was third-fastest overall at the preseason Sepang and offered a glowing review of his bike.
"I’m really pleased and satisfied with the work Aprilia did in the winter," said Vinales. "I’m grateful for that. I just feel very natural on the bike but still I feel we can improve quite a lot.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
