Seeing the back-up from Red Bull Racing and the massive test team squad under the leadership of leader test rider Dani Pedrosa, we initially thought that KTM would be Ducati’s strong competitor in the 2024 season. But who would have thought, it was the manufacturer with the smallest budget on the MotoGP grid – Aprilia – who actually loudly gave a strong warning signal to Ducati both in Qatar, Portimao and the final race in Austin – Texas.
Speaking to TNT Sports after Maverick Vinales achieved a Grand Slam at COTA last weekend, Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola said: “To be honest, if we look at the numbers, in Qatar the fastest bike was [Aleix Espargaro’s] #41. If we look at the numbers, at Portimao the fastest bike was #12 [Maverick Vinales]. Here, the fastest bike again belongs to #12.”
“It’s true, maybe our motorbike is a decent racing motorbike. This is not a production bike that always works [on every track]. We all push ourselves too hard. “Finding the right spot is not easy,” said Rivola.
“We are on the right track, especially with Maverick who is clearly in the right position. Our job is to keep it there. Clearly, reliability is an issue at Portimao. But when you’ve improved performance so quickly in recent years, you may have had less time to be consistent with your reliability/reliability. That is the price to pay.” Said Rivola.
Rivola also revealed that Aprilia is working on further updates to its RSGP 24 starting system, “We will take another step at the end of the season. We know what we are working on, and what can benefit us. But that takes time. This isn’t a plug-and-play thing. We need a big job from Lorenzo Savadori in the test team, and our suppliers, to do the job quickly.”
It is interesting to know that the three circuits that have been traversed have properties and characters that are quite different from each other. Although of course the 3 circuit examples cannot provide a comprehensive picture, this is clearly enough to give strong hope that the Aprilia RSGP24 has a base setup that can be explored further so that it can suit the character of all types of MotoGP circuits. Next, Jerez, which is a traditional classic European circuit that is narrow and also flowing, will be able to provide further insight into the potential of the all-round RSGP in 2024.
