More upgrades for Aprilia at home round

Aprilia will bring new upgrades to a Grand Prix weekend for another time, as they continue to make progress with the brand-new RS-GP machines of Stefan Bradl and Alvaro Bautista.

Speaking ahead of their home round this weekend in Mugello, Aprilia racing manager Romano Albesiano says the new parts should help further close the gap to their opposition.

“For the Mugello weekend we will once again have new upgrades available, especially in terms of electronics, but more than anything, we want to take on each individual session effectively, focusing on the best possible performance straight away.

“In fact, up to now we have spent a lot of time during race weekends testing setups, often making drastic changes, and this is a necessary process for exploring the potential of the RS-GP and understanding the way the bike reacts to the various changes.

“This weekend, on the other hand, we will be starting from a stable base and focusing on the setup straight away on a track where smooth riding and agility are absolutely essential and where painstaking work on the chassis and electronics can really make the difference.”

However, the changes haven’t come easily, with team boss Fausto Gresini admitting that the test that Aprilia shared the Italian circuit earlier this month was wasted thanks to the weather.

“For us, the Italian Grand Prix is a very important round. We are particularly keen to make a good impression and to further improve the RS-GP. Unfortunately, because of the rain, the day of tests at Mugello was just about useless.

“In any case, the important thing is that our development work is progressing well. This is an effort that we hope will allow us to recover three to five tenths of a second per lap, which would mean shaving 10 to 12 seconds off of race time.”