When Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales finished first and second in both Friday practice sessions in Argentina, Aprilia looked on course for a repeat of its 2022 MotoGP victory.
Aprilia made a perfect return to the scene of their debut MotoGP victory with Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales first and second in Friday practice at Termas de Rio Hondo.
After seeing teammate Maverick Vinales take home the FP1 spoils, Aleix Espargaro fought back to claim top spot with the fastest overall time on day-one of the Argentine MotoGP.
Fabio Quartararo may have made a breakthrough after returning to old aero on the final day of 2023 MotoGP pre-season testing, but he also got his first taste of an Aprilia-style rear wing.
After a ‘great’ Aprilia debut at the Valencia test, RNF team boss Razlan Razali has high hopes for five-time MotoGP race winner Miguel Oliveira in 2023.
If Aprilia can continue its upward MotoGP trend following the loss of technical concessions, it will be the first manufacturer not to take a step back the following season.
A switch to Aprilia for the 2023 MotoGP season brought the curtain down on four years as a satellite Yamaha team for SRT/RNF. But the Yamaha association went much further back for team manager Wilco Zeelenberg.
Official MotoGP testing may have ended at Valencia earlier this month, but Aprilia's test team has been back on track at Jerez while its four 2023 race riders headed to the wind tunnel.
Pol Espargaro has praised the surprise MotoGP title challenge of older brother Aleix, after the Aprilia rider finally dropped out of contention at the penultimate round in Malaysia.
Having made his disappointment clear to Aprilia after scoring just 12 points in the last three MotoGP races, the last thing Aleix Espargaro needed was a series of further technical woes on day one of ‘the most important weekend so far’.