Losail (Qatar), 29 March 2015 - The first race for the RS-GP was long-awaited by the entire Aprilia Racing Team Gresini as an essential test to assess how far development has come on the young project in an actual competition.

But contact with Marc Marquez in turn 6 of the first lap put Alvaro Bautista - the rider who had shown the most encouraging progress throughout the weekend - out of the game, damaging the front left brake lines and the sensors.

Marco Melandri rode his Aprilia across the wire, accumulating laps, information and sensations that will be important for the RS-GP growth process.

ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
"It's a shame about what happened to Alvaro because of everything this weekend, this was the most long-awaited test. The most important. It would have been truly essential to see where Alvaro would have placed in comparison to that big pack he was fighting in through the first turns of the race, but unfortunately the move Marquez made damaged the bike too badly for it to continue. This was our spirit taking on the first race because it was a test, and this is how it will be in this initial phase of the season, both for the bike and the entire team. Now we need to analyse all the data Marco collected, since he rode his RS-GP all the way to the finish."

FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
"What happened in the first race was an important experience for Alvaro and for the entire team, especially in order to bring home all that information that only a race can provide. It's a good sign that Marco finished his race. Of course that isn't enough and we have a lot of work to do in order to improve, but it is a first signal to start from."