Aprilia says it is leaving no stone unturned in its quest to secure a maiden MotoGP title this season. Team manager Paolo Bonora insists the Noale factory is working 'eight days a week' to close the gap to Ducati and Marc Marquez.
However, like all manufacturers, it must also develop next year's new 850cc and Pirelli machine. While Yamaha, Honda and KTM are already out of title contention, making it easier for them to shift more attention towards 2027, Aprilia "don't want to lose this opportunity" and cannot afford to ease off.
"We know that we have the opportunity and we don't want to lose this opportunity," Bonora told MotoGP pit lane reporter Jack Appleyard at Aragon. "For sure, the bike is very good, but we know that the competitor [Ducati] is at very high level. We know that we have to improve race by race. We don't stop improving."
He added: "The difficulty is that there is also a new project, the 850. So, we have two projects in our department, and it's necessary to follow the two projects at the maximum level, both at the same time. It is a very hard job, very difficult, but we know our potential and we continue to do."
Bonora elaborated: "We started to work eight days per week and 25 hours per day! We are trying to do this. It's difficult, but we are trying! Every day we are checking if we in the correct timetable, in the correct agenda with our two projects. At the moment, we are quite good to [develop] both projects at the same time, and during the season, the last part in particular, we will check and we will update our plans."
The Noale manufacturer currently leads the riders', teams' and constructors' standings with ten rounds remaining. Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi and Ai Ogura are all currently ahead of Marquez, but the Ducati star is expected to fight back at Aragon, one of his strongest circuits, while Ogura is absent through injury.
"Here in Aragon, we suffered a bit in the past," Bonora confirmed. "To be honest, we improved the bike in the weak points where we know that we suffered the most last year. In particular, when there is a tight corner in the hard braking zone, and where it is necessary to accelerate from low speed. We have seen since the first part of the season that we improved a bit there. We would like confirmation here in Aragon. But we know it's a tough race."
He added: "We know that there are competitors that are better than us here. But with this in mind, it's necessary to make the best that we can and don't change the bike too much. We have something to test in aerodynamics, probably you have already seen the rear tail. But we would like to keep the bike stable and, in particular, the riders stable."
Marquez was fastest in FP1, with the Aprilias of Raul Fernandez and Marco Bezzecchi second and third. However, Martin, who currently leads Bezzecchi by 31 points, Ogura by 37 points and Marquez by 40 points, was only 18th.
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Marc Marquez memuncaki FP1 MotoGP Aragon dengan catatan waktu 1:47.532s, mengungguli Pedro Acosta dan Jack Miller. Jorge Martin serta Bagnaia justru kesulitan di posisi 18 dan 20.
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Marc Marquez memuncaki FP1 MotoGP Aragon dengan 1:47.532, mengungguli Raul Fernandez dan Bezzecchi. Martin dan Bagnaia tercecer.
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