THE APRILIA RS-GP MACHINES DO WELL ON THEIR DÉBUT IN THE FIRST PRACTICE SESSIONS IN QATAR
ESPARGARÓ AND REDDING GET GOOD SENSATIONS IN VIEW OF TOMORROW'S DECISIVE SESSIONS
The engines have finally roared to life for the long-awaited 2018 MotoGP season. And among the many reasons for high interest in the new world championship is also Aprilia, called on to confirm the growth demonstrated in the final part of last season.
Aleix Espargaró and Scott Redding rode the fledgling 2018 RS-GP in the official opening sessions. Their sensations were clearly positive. Both of the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders improved significantly between the first and second Friday sessions. In FP2, Aleix even made an appearance in the top end of the standings, then continuing to work in view of the race, getting good sensations especially in the comparative tests between the different tyre solutions for Sunday. He finished with the 12th best time of 1'55.236, just 87 hundredths from the leader and 38 hundredths behind the top 6.
Redding made clear progress in the second session, although continuing to work, as advisable for him, on the settings, both for tomorrow's sessions which will decide the starting order and with Sunday's race in mind, finishing with a time of 1'55.718.