Aleix Espargaro was once left ‘crying’ after three laps on Aprilia’s MotoGP bike in testing

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Aprilia stand on the precipice of challenging Ducati at the top of the MotoGP world championship. Last year, the factory team won four Grands Prix through Marco Bezzecchi, as well as three Sprints.

It was Aprilia’s most successful season since they returned to the series as a factory team. Massimo Rivola fielded an all-new line-up for 2025, though world champion Jorge Martin missed much of the year through injury.

Maverick Vinales left to join KTM satellite squad Tech3, while long-serving rider Aleix Espargaro retired from full-time racing.

Espargaro had been riding the Aprilia bike since 2017 through a partnership with Gresini. Across his first four seasons, which didn’t yield a single podium, he never finished higher than 14th in the championship.

Aleix Espargaro told Aprilia their 2020 bike was ‘the best’ they had ever made

Aprilia made a step forward in 2020 after modifying their V4 engine to mirror the Ducati and Honda designs. After just three laps, Espargaro’s feedback was ‘unbelievably good’.

In fact, as the Spaniard told Mat Oxley of Motor Sport Magazine years later, he was in tears in the garage. He had contemplated ending his career because he was in an ‘impossible’ position on the older RS-GP.

Finish the sentence: In 2027, the Aprilia rider line-up will be…

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“I did three laps, came into the garage and I was crying,” he said. “I told the engineers, ‘This is the best bike you ever made, it’s crazy, unbelievably good!’

“I was crying because at the end of 2019 I was thinking of retiring, because with the old bike it was impossible to be fast.”

The upturn in results wasn’t immediate, but Espargaro scored his first podium for the brand at the 2021 British GP and gave the factory team their first victory of the new era early in 2022. He went on to finish a career-best fourth in the championship that year.

The latest on Aprilia’s links to VR46 for 2027

In a further statement of their ambition, Aprilia could link up with VR46 from 2027 onwards. Talks are reportedly taking place over a move that could weaken Ducati.

Rivola says Aprilia’s priority is to continue with Trackhouse, but a tie-up with VR46 could further their ambitions given the larger scale of their operation.

Valentino Rossi does have alternative options, though. Rossi could reunite with Yamaha, the team where he won four world championships during his own career.