In 2022, Aprilia was in the title fight with Aleix Espargaro for a long time and even led the world championship at times. That was also the goal for this MotoGP season. But so far the Italian manufacturer has not lived up to its own expectations.
On the eight race weekends that have been completed to date, Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales have only been able to claim one podium finish. The latter didn’t even finish half of the Grands Prix. He is twelfth in the overall standings, Espargaro is eighth.
“It’s difficult to say something good because we didn’t achieve the goals we set ourselves in the first part of the season, despite the progress we’ve made with the new bike.
Many injuries made it difficult for Aprilla
It’s better than last year’s bike,” team manager Paolo Bonora told MotoGP.com.
“There are several reasons for this, such as injuries or the weather conditions, for example in Argentina. Ultimately, we didn’t achieve what we wanted in the races,” admits Bonora.
In fact, Aprilia was one of the manufacturers that was badly affected by injuries. Above all, Miguel Oliveira, hopefuls in the RNF satellite team, failed several times. His team-mate Raul Fernandez and Espargaro weren’t always fit either. Only Vinales was spared.
Aprilia satisfied with all four drivers
But Bonora emphasizes: “We are happy with our drivers. We see the power and energy from Aleix and Maverick, but also from Miguel and Raul. We think that we are now in a position where we can take another step technically and give the riders the confidence they need to go for better results in the next part of the season.”
Every detail counts, because “MotoGP has reached such a high level,” says Bonora, “that even a tenth of a second can decide whether you’re in the top 5 or outside the top 10.”
“In this respect, we have to work together perfectly in the pits session after session. To be honest, we know where our weak point is, namely in the braking area. We have to give the drivers more self-confidence here, especially for overtaking maneuvers in the races,” warns the Aprilia team manager.
Despite setbacks: Aprilia goals remain the same
The fact that since this year we have not only the works team but also the satellite team is a help. “It’s a great opportunity for us. Having four drivers instead of just two means we have a lot more data to evaluate.”
“We saw in the first part of the season, especially in Portimao – despite Miguel’s injury – that if we put all the data together and analyzed it, we could improve in many corners,” reveals the Italian. “So we are very happy about the partnership with RNF. Our goal is to give them full technical support to help their drivers and ours.”
As for the World Championship, Bonora says: “Fighting for the title is an incredible goal for us. We had set ourselves the goal of being within the top 5 in all races. We haven’t achieved that goal at the moment.”
“But the goals we have set remain for the second part of the season and we will do our best to achieve them.” After all, a maximum of 444 points can still be awarded over twelve race weekends.