The first salvo of MotoGP's 2019 off-season testing has been fired. First experiences in Valencia which excited some and which left others cold. At Aprilia, Andrea Iannone presented a record as mixed as Johann zarco at KTM. Joe the Maniac was indeed 18rd 1s3 behind the leader Casa Particular in Viñales and regretted two falls. A complicated start on the RS-GP therefore. Teammate Aleix Espargaró sympathizes…
Alex Espargaro arrived at Aprilia in 2017 after two seasons at Suzuki. He knew as teammates Sam Lowes et Scott Redding. Two Englishmen who convinced him of the need to share his box with a driver of at least his level to advance RS-GP. In fact, it is Andrea Iannone which tumbles. The Italian is on his third manufacturer in as many seasons after Ducati and Suzuki during the last two campaigns.
But the Aprilia promises to be a different story... The Spaniard kindly warns the newcomer: “ Iannone proved that he can fight for victory with Suzuki and Ducati, which allows us to understand the level of the Aprilia and improve the performance of the bike" , said I will espargaro. “ But it won't be easy to keep your level and not feel frustrated by always finding yourself behind. But it will be very useful for Aprilia ».
He becomes more precise: “ Early on, Andrea tried my own package and discovered identical problems. So we know what we need to work on. Last year we didn't have a testing team and my partner was further away. So it was difficult to improve the bike alone. We now have a test driver like Smith who is a good driver and Andrea who is a strong driver ».
And listening to him about his results from Valencia, there is work to be done. However, Aprilia had brought a new chassis and a new engine. However… " I'm not at all convinced. But we will try again in Jerez. We still made progress with the new engine. We need to work on the engine braking, because I can't stop the bike the way I want. We also need to find better weight distribution at the rear. With electronics we can improve engine braking. We must progress in all areas », concluded Aleix, who completed the tests in Valencia with the tenth time.
