Things are finally moving at Aprilia and this is not to displease its current only efficient and totally able-bodied rider Aleix Espargaró. It is said that the latter worked hard to convince Viñales to join him and the mission succeeded. Before embarking on a British Grand Prix where he will set out again in search of a Holy Grail in the form of a Top 5 for his RS-GP, the Spaniard takes stock of the new situation in the project of Noale in MotoGP, not forgetting Dovizioso who was in the pipeline for a while and to whom he now says good luck...
Aleix Espargaró is not the last to rejoice at the arrival of Maverick Vinales in the RS-GP project. And all the more so since the new recruit tired of a factory Yamaha who had the same feeling towards him will begin work in the coming weeks on a machine equipped with a new engine for him: a V4.
The Spaniard commented on this news at Silverstone who is experiencing his Battle of Britain vigil this weekend: “ after months of rumors about who my partner would be, I am happy that Aprilia has recruited a high-level driver. I'm also happy that after the problems he had with Yamaha, he can get on the RS-GP as soon as possible. I don't know what happened between him and Yamaha, but now he can compare the two bikes and help us. No doubt it will be fast from the start. I can't wait for him to do this test and give us his first impressions of my bike...sorry, our bike » he said not without humor.
On his relations with Casa Particular in Viñales, he admits : " we talk almost daily, we have a good relationship, and these days we have talked more about the bike, about the Aprilia. I don't think it will be difficult for him, because even though I haven't ridden the Forward team Yamaha in years, I honestly think that our RS-GP 21 is the closest bike I have had to this Yamaha Forward ».
Aleix Espargaró even anticipates: “ maybe it will have to adapt to the first sensations with the accelerator, to the first connection with the engine, this is something that I have worked a lot on over the last two years with the engineers, to make it more fluid, but also to reach the maximum possible torque because I like to feel the power straight away ».
Aleix Espargaró confirms his doubts about Dovizioso
« I think he will like it. It will have to adapt to the downforce of the RS-GP, because I already had to do it at the start of the season compared to the previous bike. Overall, I think he will feel good right away. I know all the people who will be with him at the Misano test, I've tested with a lot of them, and honestly it's a very strong test team. I'm sure he'll be happy as soon as he gets on the bike ».
He ends by taking stock of the new workforce: “ now we are three stars at Aprilia. What I want is for the people who are here on board to be 100% confident. Maverick is, Lorenzo is, I am 1%… the others, I don’t know ". A doubt that he reserves for Dovizioso to whom he shows the exit door… “ I'm not saying that I don't like Andrea, far from it, just that I like people who are 100% confident in themselves. I said Maverick, if he could, would race tomorrow, and I know that because he told me. Savadori has a broken foot, he's with the doctors making a special boot so he can change gears, he's a guy who wants to run 100%. The other driver you're talking about, I'm not sure I want to race 100% that way. Everyone draws their conclusions ". Conclusions which were undoubtedly drawn by Dovi who is currently negotiating a place in the project MotoGP de Yamaha .
