One of Aprilia’s most important MotoGP bikes to be auctioned by Aleix Espargaro

Aprilia has become one of the strongest manufacturers in MotoGP over the last year or so, and one of the key bikes in the Noale factory’s development is now up for auction.

Aprilia had been a part of MotoGP in the CRT era of 2012 and 2013, and still had a presence through the PBM team when CRT was replaced with the Open class in 2014.

By 2015 it had re-entered as a factory team, bringing in Alvaro Bautista and Marco Melandri as the riders, although the latter didn’t want to be there and lasted only half-a-season, being replaced by Stefan Bradl.

The early factory Aprilia MotoGP bikes of the 2010s were never the most competitive. It used a V4 like Honda and Ducati, but like KTM it used a narrow-angle design.

By the end of 2019, Aleix Espargaro, who had joined the project in 2017 after being let go by Suzuki, was ready to retire, thinking his efforts to keep going in MotoGP were effectively pointless when the results weren’t coming.

But in 2020 Aprilia came with a new engine, now utilising the 90-degree configuration that Ducati and Honda used in their V4s. Espargaro had decided to give it one last go for 2020 and loved the update when he tried it for the first time in Sepang, but there were reliability problems early on and through that Covid-impacted 2020 season the new RS-GP ran often at reduced performance levels.

In 2021, the reliability improved and with more performance available Espargaro was able to take Aprilia’s first four-stroke MotoGP podium at the British Grand Prix, and a year later he took its first win in Argentina. 

By 2026, the RS-GP is 1-2 in the MotoGP riders’ standings in 2026 with Jorge Martin and Ai Ogura, but the beginning of the journey to the top can have its roots traced back to that engine design change for 2020 that stopped Espargaro retiring.

And that bike is now available to be bought, or rather it will be on 15 November at the NEC in Birmingham during the Iconic Motorcycle Sale, part of the NEC Classic Motor Show, organised by Iconic Auctioneers.

The bike is ex-Espargaro and is complete with his number 41 on the front, and is being auctioned by the Catalan himself having been a part of his collection since 2022. The winning bidder will also receive a full set of leathers, gloves, boots, and a helmet from the 2020 season to go with the bike, whose estimate is placed at between £200,000 and £300,000.

Iconic Auctioneers notes that the bike is in running order but that the new owner will need assistance from Aprilia before use.