Aleix Espargaro was at the track this morning with some new features on his RS-GP, but he didn’t say much about what was new on the bike. As for Miguel Oliveira, who tested the 2023 bike, he was pleased to see the opportunity that Aprilia had given the portuguese rider, and even considered it a very ‘smart’ idea.
Before talking about the portuguese rider, A. Espargaro spoke briefly about the test: ‘I tested a new chassis and some updates in terms of electronics. It was a first test and we need to gather more data to continue working towards Valencia. We didn’t test the carbon chassis. It’s another one that’s a bit lighter and a bit ‘softer’ in terms of how it feels. It’s not better or worse, it’s just different and we need to do more laps and test it on another track as well. We haven’t tested it for starts or the engine’.
And he explained a moment that he considered ‘scary’, where he threw himself off the bike to avoid hurting himself: ‘The new chassis is softer and I lost the rear at the entrance to turn 13. It was very scary and I went straight into the wall and at the last moment I had to jump off the bike. It wasn’t really a crash, I came out too wide and was going too fast and to avoid the wall I jumped off the bike’.
This was followed by a comment on Aprilia’s stance in supplying the portuguese rider, from the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team, with the latest bike:
– No, I didn’t speak to Miguel about the bike he tested. I know he started with the 2022 specification and did his best lap, then he went out with the 2023 and I think he felt more stability, which is actually one of the smallest differences [the rider can be], because between the 2022 and the 2023 bike there isn’t much difference. It’s good to have his point of view. It’s a strange track with a strange shape, but it’s good what Aprilia has decided to do and it’s a smart move to give him the 2023 bike, but to have more data and understand things better. Unfortunately he can’t use it because of the rules until the end of the year.
He concluded: ‘If it was my decision I would give the 2023 bike 100 per cent to both riders [RNF’s Oliveira and Raul Fernandez], but it’s not that easy naturally’.