Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira sizzled on day-one of the Portimao MotoGP Test, begging the question whether they could challenge the factory Aprilia duo in 2023.
A turn 15 crash on the opening day of the Portimao MotoGP Test was the only blip for Maverick Vinales, who continued his impressive pre-season form by leading Aprilia’s charge against Ducati.
After watching 2021 MotoGP champion Fabio Quartararo win races and claim pole positions for them during their time as Petronas Yamaha, Razlan Razali’s RNF Aprilia team are hoping for a similar rise from new rider Raul Fernandez.
‘Absolutely not, I’m even more confused’ was the answer given by Miguel Oliveira when asked if he has a theory for why Ducati and Aprilia dominated the Sepang MotoGP Test.
After finishing day one of the Sepang MotoGP Test as the best non-Ducati rider, Maverick Vinales replicated his impressive performance to lead Aprilia’s charge on the final day.
Aleix Espargaro believes Aprilia have found small improvements ‘everywhere without destroying anything’, although he fears it won’t be enough to catch Ducati who again lead the way on day three of the Sepang MotoGP Test.
Aleix Espargaro missed out on valuable track-time after crashing at turn 12, while wet conditions throughout Saturday added to the Aprilia rider's misery as dry running was at a premium on the penultimate day of MotoGP testing in Sepang.
Despite the 2022 Ducati winning the MotoGP title in the hands of Francesco Bagnaia and dominating the season for large parts, Pramac rider Jorge Martin believes the Italian manufacturer is well positioned to be the leading brand once again.
Miguel Oliveira has confirmed he will use the 2022-spec Aprilia for the upcoming MotoGP season, while the onus will be on factory riders Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro to ‘validate’ the 2023 material.
Happy with his progression at Aprilia, showing he can compete for wins aboard the RS-GP at several MotoGP races in 2022, Maverick Vinales sees no reason why he would contemplate returning to Yamaha.
Jack Miller’s KTM move sets up the possibility of the Australian making history as the first rider to win ‘MotoGP’ races on three different brands of bike.
Aleix Espargaro is convinced he and Aprilia can become MotoGP title challengers once again in 2023, although ‘no one believes we can do it’, says the Spanish rider.