Torque 'obsession' for Espargaro, Aprilia

Aprilia's current 'obsession' is to improve the torque of is MotoGP engine in low RPM.

Aleix Espargaro, who took the new RS-GP to tenth place (+9.6s) in the Qatar season-opener, explained that the factory is now seeking acceleration.

"I feel that we are missing torque in the low RPM, it's what we have to improve, because the bike in the straight, in fifth and sixth gear is very strong," he said.

"Especially when we have a new tyre and we have pure grip, I suffer a lot in acceleration with the top guys.

"When the grip drops for our rivals, the difference in acceleration is a little bit less, but for me this is the obsession right now, to improve the torque in the low RPM.

"Andrea [Iannone] has the same feeling as me, that this bike in the low RPM is missing some torque and I hope that they can improve."

Espargaro added that new team-mate Iannone is also providing helpful information from his time at Ducati and Suzuki.

"A lot of things, a lot of small details. Not about just the bike, but also about how they work in Suzuki and Ducati and what the engineers did. This is helping us a lot," Espargaro said.

"Bradley [Smith, test and wild-card rider] is also working for us, because he's trying things that he doesn't like, but he has to try. In Qatar, he was really smart, trying things for us.

"We are stronger than last season, so with the new engineers, with Massimo [Rivola], with Bradley, we can improve. But this is not something we can do in a week. We need more time. But we are on the way. 

"The bike is much better than last season, but the problem is that everybody has improved a lot, the Honda this year is super strong in the straight, the Ducati for me is the reference bike, and Rins, Mir, and the Suzuki are doing an absolutely super job, so it's difficult to be close to the podium.

"But definitely the gap to the leader wasn't a disaster, and I feel strong. My goal is to finish top ten in the championship, which will be super difficult. But in the first race, we finished in the top ten, so this is the goal."