It was in fourteenth position that Aleix Espargaro completed his three days of testing in Thailand, with a time of 1'30.701 which placed him less than a second (0.920) from the new track record established by Dani Pedrosa . It was rather disappointing, but fortunately the arrival of the new engine is planned for the next tests which will take place in Qatar.
The three days of testing on the circuit Buriram were a fundamental step on the way to the first race of the season. This is especially true for Aprilia, which participated in the development of the new 2018 RS-GP in its second outing after its debut at Sepang.
The workload in the garage was determined by the demands of a project which, although linked to the motorcycle used last season, has undergone many changes. This means that the team and drivers must understand the reactions to configuration changes while testing new components.
For Aleix Espargaró and Scott Redding, it was also their first time on a brand new track in MotoGP. The rather special, almost unique characteristics of the Thai track presented the teams with new technical challenges, from which a lot of useful information was drawn in preparation for the next steps towards the race of the Qatar. On this occasion, Aprilia will finally ride with its new engine, and there is also talk of a new swingarm.
Over the three days, Aleix completed 188 laps, the fastest of which was achieved on Sunday in 1'30.701. Scott Redding completed 185 laps, setting his best time in the final session 1'31.311.
To Alex Espargaro, “This track proved to be difficult, but we were able to clearly identify the areas where we needed to improve and I have the utmost confidence in Aprilia. I am sure that by Qatar we will be able to count on a good base of departure for the season.
“The areas that give us the most problems are mainly the areas where we lose more than our rivals, but we have been able to improve in this area, but not enough to allow us to close the gap.
“I gave everything during these tests which were perhaps the most demanding since I worked with Aprilia. We want to continue to progress day by day. »
According to Scott Redding, “These tests were generally good, I am particularly satisfied with the constant improvements, day by day, both in terms of development of the 2018 RS-GP and in terms of feeling.
“We worked a lot to define the technical package for the first race. On Sunday morning we took a step forward in terms of braking, although it becomes a little difficult to get the right reference when the temperature increases.
“I think the direction we are taking is promising. We are constantly working on several fronts as we develop the new bike adapting my style to the RS-GP
“We could have been a few tenths quicker on our best lap but, to be honest, I think we have other priorities at the moment. »
According to Roman Albesian, Director of Aprilia Racing, “The Thai track is not a particularly easy circuit to interpret for drivers and engineers. It was a fundamental test, because coming here without any experience would have been complicated. We learned a lot, running the 2018 RS-GP on a different track than Sepang, with unique characteristics compared to the rest of the circuits on the calendar.
“We have collected data that will be useful to define the configuration with which we will approach the first GP of the season. We explored a new area in terms of the bike's center of gravity position, which gave Aleix and Scott a good feeling.
“We had a new 2018 bike and an old 2017 available for each rider to compare some characteristics, but from Qatar we will move to two new bikes, given the unanimous feedback on the overall improvement compared to last year . »
Ranking of the day:
Combined ranking of the 3 days:
Photos © Gresini Aprilia Racing
