During the first day of the MotoGP test at Sepang, there were the Aprilias that shined, starting with that of Maverick Vinales which only missed one sector to climb to the top of the table, and, much further, there was the Aprilia of the RNF MotoGP Team which begins its new adventure not only with the men of Noale but also with Miguel Oliveira et Raul Fernandez.
New machines, new drivers, we have to give time to time and accumulate the kilometers to reach the level of the best, and despite the short downpour which interrupted the work at lunchtime, the team of Razlan Razali was able to make the most of the track time.
Miguel Oliveira set his fastest lap in 1'59.730 after breaking the two-minute barrier in the afternoon. In total, the Portuguese rider completed 50 laps of the Sepang International Circuit on the first day and continued to adapt to his new bike and team after doing just one day of testing in Valencia last November. He finished the first day in P14, 1,260 seconds behind the leader.
Similarly, Raul Fernandez returned to the handlebars of his Aprilia RS-GP after a few initial tours in Spain last year. He worked to learn the machine better and better and improved throughout the day. He finished in P15, just 0,083 seconds behind his new but experienced teammate, after 54 laps on Friday.
In terms of speeds, at 331 km/h, the two Aprilia satellites only returned 2 km/h to their factory sisters, undoubtedly due to the acclimatizing pilots.
Miguel Oliveira : " I had good feelings. I think after three months everyone started from scratch and it was the same for me too, the first two runs I had to rediscover the bike. It's very different, but the bike has a lot of potential, now I just have to adapt it to my style. We haven't touched anything on the bike yet, we started with the basic settings, and now we are going to discover and touch small things to make me feel more comfortable and of course, to go faster. We still have two days and a lot of kilometers to do with the Aprilia and I am confident. »
Raul Fernandez : " To be honest, it's my first time on the RS-GP in Malaysia and it was really difficult, especially in the first lap. But I'm happy, I felt like home and with the support of Aprilia I'm really happy to be able to regain confidence with the bike. It's my job now to train my mindset and build more confidence, have fun and believe in myself and my team. Anyway, we still have two days, and I'm happy to continue training on this track, trying different settings and working more on myself. »
Rankinghe results of the MotoGP Test at Sepang J1:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
