Aprilia has made clear progress in MotoGP in recent years, now fighting for top positions. Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales have contracts until the end of 2024, as do the riders of the satellite team, Miguel Oliveira and Raúl Fernández. And the future is planned with this quartet, even in the case of riders like Fabio Quartararo and Marc Márquez becoming available on the market.
In an interview with the website GPOne, Aprilia’s technical director, Romano Albesiano, was asked if the manufacturer is ready for one of these two riders. In his response, he made it clear that there are no intentions to hire them: ‘I think the bike is mature and the team as well. But it is not in our short-term plans. We have four fantastic riders, we have improved together with Aleix, he has improved in maturity, ability to work with the team, making the right requests. In my opinion, this gives an idea of how much a rider can evolve. For example, if I apply this evolution to Maverick, who is already at very high levels, and maybe he improves in some aspects like consistency or something else, I think we are talking about a rider with crazy potential‘.
The riders of the satellite team CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team also excite the Italian: ‘Oliveira is a wonderful rider. I don’t know where he would be without the bad luck he has had so far, he made a fantastic start. As soon as there is a chance, he is in front. Then he has an intelligence, an approach, that are wonderful. Then I also love Raúl Fernández, because I think he has enormous talent and just needs support, tranquility, a company that believes in him and we are that company. We will give him a lot of time to grow and show his worth, which we believe is very high‘.
In this context, Albesiano denies that Márquez and Quartararo are necessary riders for Aprilia: ‘If Márquez is available or if Quartararo is available, I wouldn’t say we need them in particular‘.