Aprilia test rider vows to deliver much-improved bike to Jorge Martin

Aprilia’s test rider insists he will hand back Jorge Martin’s back in a greatly developed state.

MotoGP champion Martin was ruled out of two-and-a-half days of the official Sepang test after a brutal crash on Wednesday morning.

It means in Martin’s absence, the development of the Aprilia is left to his teammate Marco Bezzecchi and test rider Lorenzo Savadori.

Savadori said about his Friday testing: “Continuing to develop the aerodynamics. We are following two roads - you need to test, test, test…

“It’s a hard job but it’s important to make the best possible bike for Jorge when he returns.”

Savadori said about the narrower fairing spotted on his Aprilia: “It is an evolution. We also have an instrument on the fairing to understand the wind better.

“We need to try it again. We have only tried it for a few laps.”

Savadori was also testing new electronics but explained that he needs to try it with various tyres.

“Used and new,” he said. “You need to understand the character of the TC in both conditions.

“Because, at the beginning of the race, you have a new tyre.

“Of course with a new tyre, you have more grip, so it helps more. But this is [the same] for everybody.”

Lorenzo Savadori assesses Marco Bezzecchi

It was noted that he was tackling corners differently to Bezzecchi. Savadori, he was told, he was riding around while Bezzecchi was riding in a V-shape.

But he explained: “At Corner 1, you can stay inside or more like a V. It is not a big difference, it depends.

“We are not focused on performance, like Marco is, because we need to get the bike ready for Jorge.

“There isn’t a time [for his return] so he’ll need to take the best bike possible.”

As you’d expect, Savadori was 22nd out of 23 riders on the timesheet, with every manufacturer’s test riders occupying the bottom spots.

But he did prove that he could go nine tenths quicker with a soft tyre.

“Honestly, we are not in time attack mode! We aren’t here for performance, but to prepare the bike for Jorge,” he said.

“Last year when I replaced Raul Fernandez here, I rode in 58.8s but it was a completely different job.

“When we put on a soft tyre, I have more margin to go fast. But here isn’t the correct place.”

Bezzecchi was ninth-fastest on Friday to end a test for Aprilia that has been largely ruined by injuries to Martin and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez.

Savadori said about Bezzecchi’s adaptation from the Ducati: “It’s good. Day by day he gets better with the bike. Me and Bez are working in the same direction.

“Bez was trying something that I tried at the shakedown, and our comments are the same.

“On the track he looks good. He’s in the correct way to improve the performance.”