Lorenzo Savadori was reportedly the slowest rider in MotoGP’s latest 2027 test, but his lap time suggests Aprilia may actually be the quickest.
Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega led the way as four of the five manufacturers (with Yamaha absent) convened for a private test with 2027 prototypes on Pirelli tyres.
Bulega set a 1:39.2, a full three-quarters of a second ahead of MotoGP legend Dani Pedrosa on the KTM. Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami posted a 1:40.1, a fraction clear of Savadori.
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Lorenzo Savadori lap time is another indication that Aprilia are well placed
As pointed out by Antonio Lopez on Manuel Pecino’s YouTube channel, this bodes well for Aprilia, because Savadori would normally be more than a second off the pace.
That’s no slight on the 33-year-old, who has spent most of his career as a test rider, unlike those he was up against in Barcelona. But as a reference point, at last year’s Portuguese GP, he was around 1.5 seconds slower than Bulega (who was standing in for an injured Marc Marquez) in qualifying.
Bulega hardly had any experience on a MotoGP bike at that point. These days, the runaway World Superbikes leader represents a much stronger benchmark after extensive testing, and yet the gap has shrunk.
Of course, these lap times have been treated carefully because it’s unclear how much each team were pushing. But this isn’t the first clue that Aprilia are well-placed: Marco Bezzecchi was fastest in the official Brno test, with Raul Fernandez second.
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Savadori’s gap to Bulega was large, but every MotoGP expert would agree that substituting him for Bezzecchi or Fernandez would be worth at least a second. Indeed, the Italian was 1.7s off the leading Aprilias in the Jerez test three months ago.
What’s more, Aprilia’s support for the one-bike rule suggests they are content with limited development opportunities next year, which would only be the case if they were satisfied with their foundation. Ducati are in the same boat, though the proposal looks set to be scrapped over KTM’s opposition.
For now, this is simply a case of connecting the dots, rather than having any firm evidence. But even if Aprilia don’t manage to win the title this year, there is growing reason to be optimistic that they can challenge in 2027.
Given their limited resources, that couldn’t be taken for granted despite their recent trajectory.
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