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FIRST HOME RACE FOR APRILIA IN MISANO

9 September 2020

The MotoGP circus is preparing for its second “double header” of the season. After the two rounds in Austria, the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli will be hosting World Championship GP Motorcycle Racing for two consecutive races.

This means that Aprilia will be playing on their home pitch, on one of the tracks where they were able to conduct tests with the revamped 2020 RS-GP. Besides the new asphalt, which will have to be put to the test during a race weekend, the fans will also be returning to the grandstand, albeit limitedly in observance of the anti-COVID regulations.

Aleix and Bradley have already taken on the first part of a demanding season, busy developing a new and promising project which, however, needs to rack up the miles on the track. The effects of the pandemic, which actually interrupted this process after the winter tests, forced the team and riders into overtime. Misano could very well be the right forum for a well-deserved reward.

ALEIX ESPARGARO’

“The first races confirmed what I had expected after the winter tests, namely that the new RS-GP is a huge step forward for Aprilia. That said, we still have not managed to fully exploit the potential we have available to us. On every weekend, there was some factor that led to results which do not accurately represent my feeling in the saddle. Misano, a track where our bike works well and where we have tested, could be the right opportunity to come full circle and aim for the positions we deserve.”

BRADLEY SMITH
“The testing we did on this track could potentially give us a slight advantage. This is Aprilia’s home race and it is on a circuit where the RS-GP has historically performed well. I can’t wait to get back on the track. We have worked hard up to now trying to make up for the time we lost at the season start. We did well on our ‘homework’, but this is the time to take a step forward in terms of performance. The new project certainly has the potential to do it.”