The first four rounds of the 2022 MotoGP world championship season have gone by and the riders are now eager to start the European leg starting with Portugal this coming weekend (22-24 April 2022).
The Aprilia Racing team, in particular, is ready for yet another showdown as the calendar heads into the more ‘classic’ tracks of MotoGP where the Italian manufacturer believes that they have a strong advantage. Current factory rider, Aleix Espargaro, is confident that European tracks like Portimao will be very promising for the 2022 Aprilia RS-GP machinery.
According to the 32-year-old Spaniard, “We are coming from a different sort of track where even in terms of settings, we had to stray from our normal base. Portimão, on the other hand, is somewhat of a ‘classic’ track, so I can’t wait to ride the new RS-GP with the configuration that made us competitive in the first three rounds of the season.”
“We are well aware that the season is entering its most important stage with our arrival in Europe. We have a string of races one right after the other ahead of us where we’ll need to keep up the rhythm. Expectations are high because we are the first ones to raise the bar for ourselves,” added Espargaro.
With that being said, Aprilia will be fielding three RS-GP bikes on the grid this weekend in Portugal. The main riders are none other than Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales, plus the manufacturer’s first wild card entry of the season, Lorenzo Savadori. The 29-year-old Italian will also wild card at next week’s round in Jerez, Spain. Will there be another historic moment for Aprilia this weekend? We sure hope so, because who doesn’t love a good underdog success story, right?
