Aprilia hoped to do much better this season in MotoGP and it is not the additional victory recorded compared to last year, and still brought back by Aleix Espargaró, who will console the house of Noale for the sixth and seventh final places in the general classification. Once again, the RS-GP gradually faded away as the second part of the season progressed, with identical weaknesses noted that the addition of two additional machines via the new RNF satellite team was unable to counteract. . Paolo Bonora, the team manager of the Aprilia Racing Team, takes stock of the vintage which is ending, not hiding a feeling of failure for which he assumes all the more responsibility for his troops as he clearly clears his four pilots.
At Aprilia, with Paul Bonora, we are not being tongue-in-cheek when evaluating the 2023 MotoGP route. On the official website of the category, the team manager of the Aprilia Racing Team directly sets the scene: “ To be honest, it hasn't been a good year for us. Maybe, because we started the year with too high expectations. We did not achieve the goals we set for ourselves ».
Compared to the usual challenger which is KTM, who has not won any Grand Prix on Sunday this season, Aprilia can, however, boast two major successes in Great Britain and Catalonia, the latter meeting even ending in a double. But then, the RS-GP fell into line, with weaknesses that were repeated: “ apart from the good races we had at Silverstone and Barcelona, in the second half of the season we didn't score too many points, we ruined a lot of good situations »Comments Bonora.
He adds : " in the second part of the season, we did not prepare the motorcycle for the new conditions encountered. On some specific circuits we are doing very well, especially on tracks with fast corners like Barcelona or Silverstone. But we need to improve the bike during hard braking. Especially when you're coming from a straight line at high speed and you have to stop the bike as hard and as quickly as possible. Here we need to improve compared to our rivals ».
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Paolo Bonora Aprilia: “ we need to be much faster and more consistent to give our drivers the confidence they need »
If he beats his technical penalty, the same Paolo Bonora clears his pilots with style: “ we are satisfied with the drivers, but we need to be much faster and more consistent to give them the confidence they need » he assures before considering them case by case: “ Aleix Espargaró had a wonderful first part of the season. His run in Barcelona was impressive, that's for sure, as was Maverick's. At Silverstone we also achieved another incredible victory ».
Public chat Casa Particular in Viñales, he says : " he has improved a lot. Race after race, he managed to be more consistent at the start. In MotoGP you have to be early into the first corner if you want to get a good result. All his comments were very useful for Aprilia. His driving style is very different from Aleix's and we know where we need to improve ».
This year, for the first time, Aprilia had in its workforce two pilots nestled in a satellite team. A great contribution was expected from this new system, but in 2023, it was a failure in the water which is regretted: “ we are happy to have a private team with us” analysis Paolo Bonora. “ This is a situation that has helped us, because we can better understand each riding style and the behavior of the bike. But we suffered many injuries from Oliveira's side, and it affected his season a lot. He is a very talented driver with great potential, but he was not able to show what he is capable of with our bike. I hope next year he will have better luck ». And Raul Fernandez ? " He's a driver we love, he improved especially in the second half of the season, he is another of the drivers who likes to brake a lot and we learned a lot from him ».
In 2024, the American pavilion TrackHouse will take over the RS-GP of the now late RNF team, with the great stated ambition of wanting to be technically as well regarded as the factory structure. It will be a challenge for Aprilia whose resources deployed in MotoGP are always more modest than those of the competition.
