After four years racing in MotoGP, Aprilia should be finishing each race fighting for the top spots. At least that’s what Aprilia Gresini rider Aleix Espargaró thinks. But the results aren’t good, and neither Espargaró or Scott Redding seem to be getting the best of their talent due to problems with the RS-GP prototype, a bike that faces a lot of problems, especially grip problems.
With this in mind, Aprilia believes that this season is over, and the Noale factory decided to do an early start to the 2019 MotoGP season. In Australia, where this weekend the MotoGP season enters the last three races of the year, Aprilia will race a special version of the RS-GP prototype, a hybrid version of sorts.
According to Aleix Espargaró, in a preview to what is going to happen at Phillip Island for Aprilia, he says that the RS-GP we will see on track is a mix of the 2018 RS-GP version with parts of the 2017 bike and parts that will be new for 2019.
In Noale, Aprilia worked hard these past few weeks to be able to ship this “experimental” RS-GP bike to Phillip Island in time for the race, and Aleix Espargaró hopes that by using this mixture of parts, Aprilia might find a way to solve the grip problems
“We have a very different bike here in Australia that arrived from Italy, with parts from next season, ideas we have been working on for a long time, and part of the bike from last season that works better than the 2018 bike. We will try to change the balance of the bike, trying to put more weight on the rear, to get more grip, because that’s been our problem this year. Until now it’s been a disaster, we’re too slow”.
The Spanish rider also warns Aprilia that by entering its fifth season in MotoGP as a factory supported team, they need to be much closer to the front of the race, because if the bike continues to be the same as this season, he will need to seat down with Aprilia managers and speak about his future with the team.