When the American Trackhouse team took over the former RNF team, it asked Aprilia to supply two 2024 RS-GP prototypes identical to those of Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales, the official Noale riders, for its two riders.
The request was a bit of a surprise for the Italians, who like the previous year expected to supply one-year-old motorcycles, but Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola immediately inserted himself into the new structure now led by the Italian Davide Brivio, the man who brought Suzuki to glory in just five years.
Production difficulties meant that Aprilia could only supply one 2024 bike for pre-season testing and the man chosen to ride it was Portuguese Miguel Oliveira. The Spaniard Raul Fernandez remained at the controls of a 2023 Aprilia RS-GP, with the promise that as soon as possible, that is, at the Spanish GP in Jerez, he would have the 2024 bike at his disposal, as will partly happen.
“We are happy to return to Europe with the iconic Jerez race which, this time, will be Raul's home race,” explained Brivio in the team preview ahead of Jerez de la Frontera.
“I'm excited to see how much more we can achieve in the next races after the recent progress made in Austin with both drivers. I don't think we showed our full potential in Austin and for that we need to be good in all areas over the weekend and optimize our performance. Let's see where we end up on Sunday”, analyzes the Trackhouse team manager.
Davide Brivio, TrackHouse team manager, talks to Aprilia's technical director, Romano Albesiano
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“Then we will do the test on Monday and if everything goes well during the weekend, Raul will have the first opportunity to briefly test the 2024 bike”, said Brivio, clarifying however that he will not have the new prototype with him for all the sessions.”
Although the promise was to have the bike available for the Andalusian weekend, it seems that Raul will have to wait for the official test on Monday to be able to ride it, although he could get his first taste of the bike during the Grand Prix.
The advantage, as Raúl told Motorsport.com in Portugal, is that “the two bikes, the 2023 and the 2024, have the same engine, so there is no interference with the regulations on sealed engines, what changes is everything else,” he said.
The Madrid-born driver is looking forward to the Grand Prix and hopes to continue the good form shown in Texas.
“I'm very happy to go to Jerez after an excellent race in Austin,” says Raúl, who is facing his third season in the premier class.
“We don't pretend to have certain expectations for the race, we just want to keep the same mentality and continue to work and progress. I can't wait for the European Tour to start this weekend. For Jerez, I just want to continue along the same lines and try to feel as good as in Austin”, where he managed to finish the race after failing in Qatar and Portimao, and where he achieved 10th place, his third best result after 5th in Valencia, 8th in San Marino and 9th in Japan, all last year, where it also came 10th in India and Britain.
Raúl Fernández, Trackhouse Racing Team
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
#MotoGP #Raúl #Fernández #test #Aprilia #Jerez
