Aprilia’s Reflections from the Sepang Test
Test MotoGP Sepang 2023
Aprilia
Looking at the timesheets and pacing charts after three days of testing at Sepang, the initial form guide suggests that Aprilia will have the best chance of beating the Ducati swarm.
While the Desmosedici machines of Italian competitors are assembled in Bologna, Aprilia’s main engineering facility is located in Noale, 150 kilometers northeast of Ducati’s headquarters.
It was a 1-2 loss to Ducati in the Sepang Test but Aprilia was fast the whole time with Maverick Vinales third fastest on the timesheet.
Maverick Vinales – P3
“I am satisfied. Aprilia did a lot of work during the winter and I felt much more comfortable on the RS-GP. Obviously there is still a lot of room for improvement, because in these early tests we tried a lot of different components without going into the details of the settings. But overall, I think we have more technical potential than we did at the end of last season and it’s a great feeling to get the first test.“
With a speed of 337.5 km/h, Vinales topped the speed chart alongside teammate Aleix Espargaro and reigning world champion Pecco Bagnaia.
Both Aleix and Maverick approved the new RS-GP, seeing it as a positive step in all major areas.
From the most conspicuous aerodynamics – the feather in the hat of the Italian racing division – to equally basic details like the engine, chassis and electronics package.
The information collected will be analyzed and evaluated prior to the Portimão tests. Four weeks of intense work to introduce more new features and confirm the technical package for the season to begin.
Aleix Espargaró – P6
“I can consider myself satisfied with this first test, even though the weather took us a long time yesterday. The new RS-GP is definitely faster than the previous version. It has improved a bit in every area and if we add up many small improvements, the end result will be very good. This does not change the fact that it is still too early to form a definitive opinion. Engineers will have a month before the next test in Portimão and a lot could still change.”
This season Aprilia has four bikes on the grid with the RNF MotoGP Team switching from Yamaha to the Italian brand for the 2023 season.
Raul Fernandez made the swap from KTM to the RNF Aprilia team and so far, it looks like a fruitful partnership.
After a total of 136 laps in his new Aprilia RS-GP during three days of testing at the Sepang International Circuit, Fernandez felt very comfortable and finished the race in P11, just eight out of 10 from P1.
Raul Fernandez – P11
“I’m really happy to be back on the bike for these three days of testing, the team and Aprilia did a great job and I’m so happy with the opportunity I have with this amazing team and home. manufacture. The test was really good, I focused on trying to get to know the bike well and I think we did really well this week and I definitely enjoyed the bike ride..”
Meanwhile, his more experienced teammate Miguel Oliveira completed 154 laps over the course of three days of testing with a fastest lap of 1.58,839 seconds on Saturday, helping him to the finish in the joint P15. the.
Miguel Oliveira – P15
“Honestly, I expected more from myself today, but when it comes to putting it all together in time attacks, we just couldn’t. There is still some work to be done in the tuning process of this bike as it really is different when riding. But we know exactly what we need to do, we will be planning the test in Portimao as we have two more days of testing before we are ready to start the racing season. All in all, today was good, I went at the right pace and did some work on the bike and learned a little more about it.“
The top tier will have its second pre-season test in 2023 at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in March before the first race of the season at Oliveira’s home ground.
Razlan Razali – Team Principal of RNF MotoGP
“It has been a positive three days for both our riders Miguel and Raul and we are pleased with what they have done. Of course, given the typical Malaysian climate, we ended the test with a light drizzle late on Tuesday. However, we have a lot of data to study and prepare for the second test in Portimao which will take place in a few weeks. It will be an interesting test in Portimao and then the first round of the 2023 season race at Miguel Oliveira’s hometown Grand Prix.“
Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager RNF MotoGP
“An important and very productive test ended, unfortunately it ended in rainy conditions, which was not preferred as we wanted to try various things on a dry surface. But overall it’s still a positive test, of course you always want more that’s inherent in our DNA, but the fact that both boys are 1’58 years old is already very positive. Yesterday Miguel felt very good but today he feels a little worse because we are a bit out of control. Unfortunately, at the end we couldn’t use the new tires because of the rain, but overall, we tested what we wanted. So far, we are very satisfied with the laps we have had and try to finish the test positively.“
MotoGP Sepang Test Combined Time
posture | horseman | Bicycle | TIME/Distance |
first | L.Marini | DUCATI | 1’57.889 |
2 | F.Bagnaia | DUCATI | +0.080 |
3 | M.Vinales | APRIL | +0.147 |
4 | E. Bastianini | DUCATI | +0.260 |
5 | J. Martin | DUCATI | +0.315 |
6 | A.Espargaro | APRIL | +0.418 |
7 | F.Di Giannanto Ita | DUCATI | +0.455 |
8 | M.Bezzecchi | DUCATI | +0.474 |
9 | A.Marquez | DUCATI | +0.496 |
ten | M.Marquez | HONDA’S MOTOBIKE | +0.777 |
11 | R. Fernandez | APRIL | +0.821 |
twelfth | J. Mir | HONDA’S MOTOBIKE | +0.895 |
13 | P.Espargaro | GAS | +0.908 |
14 | B. Adhesives | KTM | +0.923 |
15 | M.Oliveira | APRIL | +0.950 |
16 | J.Zarco | DUCATI | +0.963 |
17 | F. Quatararo | YAMAHA | +1.008 |
18 | J.Miller | KTM | +1.012 |
19 | A. Rins | HONDA’S MOTOBIKE | +1.043 |
20 | F. Morbidelli | YAMAHA | +1.097 |
21 | T.Nakagami | HONDA’S MOTOBIKE | +1,646 |
22 | A. Fernandez | GAS | +1,771 |
23 | C.Crutchlow | YAMAHA | +2,034 |
24 | S. Bradl | HONDA’S MOTOBIKE | +2.546 |
25 | K.Nakasuga | YAMAHA | +3,350 |
MotoGP Sepang Best Tri-Speed Test Day
posture | horseman | Bicycle | Speed |
first | Pecco Bagnaia | ducati | 337.5 |
2 | Maverick Vinales | Aprilia | 337.5 |
3 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 337.5 |
4 | Jorge Martin | ducati | 336.4 |
5 | Marco Bezzecchi | ducati | 336.4 |
6 | Luca Marini | ducati | 336.4 |
7 | Marc marquez | Honda’s motobike | 336.4 |
8 | Enea Bastianini | ducati | 335.4 |
9 | Alex Marquez | ducati | 334.3 |
ten | Pol Espargaro | GAS | 334.3 |
11 | Fabio Quartararo | Yamaha | 334.3 |
twelfth | Fabio DiGiannantonio | ducati | 333.3 |
13 | Johann Zarco | ducati | 333.3 |
14 | Jack Miller | KTM | 333.3 |
15 | Miguel Oliveira | Aprilia | 333.3 |
16 | Raul Fernandez | Aprilia | 333.2 |
17 | Joan Mir | Honda’s motobike | 332.3 |
18 | binder Brad | KTM | 332.3 |
19 | Alex Rins | Honda’s motobike | 332.3 |
20 | Cal Crutchlow | Yamaha | 332.3 |
21 | Franco Morbidelli | Yamaha | 331.2 |
22 | Augusto Fernandez | GAS | 330.2 |
23 | Stefan Bradl | Honda’s motobike | 330.2 |
24 | Takaaki Nakagami | Honda’s motobike | 328.2 |