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april 08, 2022 - Aprilia Racing

APRILIA RACING OFF TO A GOOD START AT THE GP OF THE AMERICAS


GOOD PACE FOR MAVERICK VIÑALES AND ALEIX ESPARGARÓ, SEVENTH AND ELEVENTH RESPECTIVELY AT THE END OF THE FIRST FREE PRACTICE SESSIONS

The Grand Prix of the Americas got off on the right foot for Aprilia Racing. On a track which, on paper, is one of the most difficult on the entire calendar, the 2022 Aprilia RS-GP once again demonstrated a good level of competitiveness in Friday’s two free practice sessions with Maverick Viñales doing the seventh time at 2’03”085 and Aleix Espargaró not far behind in eleventh place with a time of 2’03”370.

Besides the positions in the standings, both riders had good sensations in the saddle. Second and eighth respectively at the end of the morning FP1 session, Viñales and Espargaró continued working in the afternoon with good feedback in terms of pace. In the FP3 session tomorrow morning, the goal will be to go straight through to Q2, where the top 12 positions on the starting grid will be decided for the Grand Prix race scheduled to be held on Sunday at 1 in the afternoon, local time.

ALEIX ESPARGARÓ
“Closing out Friday in the top ten usually makes things easier on Saturday, but we aren’t worried. Quite simply, I was unable to be incisive on the flying lap, so we’ll try again tomorrow in FP3. Last year I struggled a lot on this track and we were far behind the leaders. Now, on the other hand, the situation is completely different. The bike is working much better and I feel competitive. I have a good pace. The asphalt conditions have improved. There are still some bumps, but the times demonstrate that you can be fast.”

MAVERICK VIÑALES
“We’re working extremely well with the team and every time we go out on the track, we manage to take another step forward. I'm adapting more and more to the bike and consequently I'm able to push harder. The settings we found recently work well here as well, so I'm happy about that. Today, partly because of some mistakes, I only missed the flying lap in the finale of FP2, but I'm rather satisfied with our pace.”