Aprilia was the star of last season’s Catalunya GP and there is hope that the manufacturer will repeat the feat this year. This is the belief of Wilco Zeelenberg, who stated that Miguel Oliveira is being fast, as well as Trackhouse Racing, and that the Spanish track could be the place for a great result from the Portuguese rider.
The Team Manager of the satellite Aprilia, based in the USA, recalled the good result of 2023, with #88 also in his mind, and sees the Catalunya circuit as the ideal place for him to show what he can do: ‘We are now on our way to the Catalunya Grand Prix in Barcelona and it’s always good to go there – a special circuit with a long history. Last year, our bikes were working very well in Barcelona, so we are looking forward to repeating that pace. Looking at what we achieved there last year, it makes us think about the potential and what we can achieve this year, especially considering that we had some good races recently, although Miguel couldn’t finish the last race in France, but we are consistently fast and we want to take a step forward – I think Barcelona is a good place for that’.
Zeelenberg then recalled Aleix Espargaró’s great performance last year, also highlighting the performance of the Portuguese rider: ‘Aleix’s victory there last year was remarkable and a very strong performance, but also the race that Miguel did last year in Barcelona was very good’.
He then shifted the focus to Raúl Fernández: ‘Raúl has one of his rounds at home, on Spanish soil, so that will help with some extra motivation and we are really interested to see what both boys are capable of doing this week’.
