Turin – Rider and bike of the moment. Maverick Viñales and Aprilia they arrive in Jerez in the wake of triumphs in the Sprints of Portimao and Austin, where the Spaniard also dominated his first GP with the MotoGP of Noale, becoming the first in history to triumph with three different manufacturers. If it hadn’t been for the banal (and guilty: it was a “human error” in the garage) gearbox problem that stopped him at the end of the one in Portugal, he would have been leading the World Championship and with a terrifying winning streak. The one that the opponents are starting to have. And for this in Aprilia they want to keep the moment alive and keep pushing. The declared objective is to plant the black flag also in Jerez, where Aprilia (like Ktm) has never won in the top class. And Ducati not much: 4 times, compared to 22 Hondas and 10 Yamahas, the two giants most in crisis. Last year it could have been the right time, but Aleix Espargaro (third in 2022, Aprilia’s best result in Andalusia) suffered a fall from pole in the Sprint and fifth place in the long race. While Viñales collected another retirement on the last lap due to a broken chain. «Jerez is a historic track, obviously very special for us Spanish riders too. This GP is the first real test, because it is a track where it is essential to have a good setting, where you can really understand if the bike works. Here we will discover the real level of the bikes and the riders. We hope it will be a good race for all of us at Aprilia” states the Captain. «I grew up on this circuit, I know every inch of it and I’ve always done well. This year we get to the top because we have a bike that allows us to be strong everywhere, it will be beautiful» load Maverick.
Aprilia looks further
But Aprilia also looks further. In Jerez, even if in Monday’s test (the official promo for the season), there will be four RS-GP 24s. As promised by Massimo Rivola, Raul Fernandez will also have the official Noale bike at his disposal (he is using last year’s), therefore he will be put on a par with his teammate Miguel Oliveira and the two factory teams. A sign of when Aprilia (in the wake of what Ducati has done) believes in Trackhouse project, its satellite team. And that’s not enough. The black garage will be particularly crowded, because in Jerez he will take to the track with his first of three wild cards (Mugello and Assen the others, therefore close together) available as per the regulations for test rider Lorenzo Savadori (the same will be done by Ktm with Dani Pedrosa ). A possibility (denied from this year to Ducati due to the new Concessions rule) that Aprilia will exploit to send out a lot of new material, in order to test it in the race. A unique opportunity. «I can’t wait to get back to racing in MotoGP – he actually states Savadori, who contested four World Grand Prix races last year –. It will be an important weekend for me and for Aprilia. I will race with a laboratory bike, we will have several new solutions to test and I will have the opportunity to experiment with some new features for Aleix and Maverick. I will do my best!». What they are doing in Noale, where ambition and motivation have never been higher. Nor the ranking.
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