Aprilia has marked this year with mixed performances. On one hand, it often shows it is capable of being among the most competitive, but in a blink of an eye or even during the same day or session, there are clear fluctuations in performance, with Miguel Oliveira addressing the issue and revealing areas where he would like to see improvement.
Questioned about this lack of consistency in the lead-up to the Thailand GP, the Portuguese rider responded: ‘Yes, it’s true. Why? I think if you look at the tracks, each track has different challenges. There are some tracks where the fight is clearer, in others not so much, but it’s true that we would like to take a step forward in terms of performance’.
And he explained later where he feels the RS-GP needs to take a step forward to be closer to the competitors: ‘In my understanding we should take a step forward in terms of better braking and also accelerating a little faster in slow corners. That’s where I believe we have to find a compromise’.
However, there is an area where it is very good, he considered: ‘The bike corners very well but at the same time we lack something in those two areas, where the other guys have a slightly better performance, but we are talking about very small margins, and nowadays things are as they are for everyone’.
