Aleix Espargaró will leave Aprilia at the end of the MotoGP season, which means there will be at least one seat available at Aprilia. Possible candidates are many, like the current Trackhouse satellite team riders (Miguel Oliveira and Raúl Fernández).
However, they are far from the only ones. Several riders are without contracts, such as Enea Bastianini (Ducati) or Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati), who have even been speculated as possibilities for Aprilia.
Massimo Rivola, CEO of Aprilia Racing, did not mention names to the championship’s website. However, he believes there will be good opportunities in the market and did not rule out that Espargaró’s successor might come from… Italy:
– I think the market will be quite interesting with some good opportunities. Let’s see if we’ll finally get an Italian on an Italian bike or not. I think it will be a good opportunity. Obviously, taking the place of Aleix won’t be easy for anybody, so anyone who comes in needs to be hungry.