The battle started for Aprilia at the COTA in Austin, Texas. The RS-GP is making its début on a rather complex track, capable of putting all the characteristics of the young Italian project to a hard test. The first free practice sessions demanding particular dedication from Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl as they searched for the best base setup to build on.

Working hard on a lot of tests, both on the setup and with the tyres, the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders have still not concentrated on the flying lap, but they battled in a rather competitive area of the standings in both sessions. Bradl demonstrated a pace that could place him in the respectable end of the standings during the first phases of FP2, but then in the final phase he fell short on the time attack. Bautista, on the other hand, identified coming out of turns as the area where he needs the most work, implementing changes that the team mechanics will apply after a careful telemetry analysis.