ALBESIANO: “A LOT OF NEWS, NOW WE KNOW WE HAVE A GOOD BASE ON WHICH TO WORK”
ESPARGARÒ: "VERY MOTIVATED BY A NEW AND GREAT CHALLENGE”
LOWES: "THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE IS TO GET TO KNOW THE MOTOGP BIKE"
The 2017 MotoGP season officially begins with the Sepang tests in Malaysia after a winter break that had the Racing Department busy developing the RS-GP, the bike that took to the track for the first time less than one year ago.
The good growth demonstrated by the first Aprilia pure-bred MotoGP (beginning with the exclusive narrow V4 engine) in the second half of last season has motivated the entire team to take a leap of quality. From a technical point of view, development followed to fundamental directives: the evolution of a base design that has proven to be extremely promising and the adaptation of the bike's characteristics to the requests made by the new Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders.
Aleix Espargaró, impressed by the performance of his RS-GP in the tests so far, acknowledged the strong points of the Aprilia prototype that are a good fit for his riding style without pointing out any particular critical issues. The primary objective for Sam Lowes, making his début in the premier category following a progressive path that began in 2016 in a few tests, is to increase his confidence on the bike and in the category. The English rider worked nonstop throughout the break so that he would be ready, physically and mentally, for this new challenge.