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It was the Aprilia RS-GP that made its voice heard on the first day of practice for the Indonesian GP, ending Friday at the top of the timesheets, thanks to the two official riders of the Noale manufacturer. A little less satisfactory was the performance obtained by the two RNF team men, Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez, who finished in seventh and fourteenth position respectively.
Despite being seven tenths slower than Aleix Espargaró, Oliveira can still be happy for having achieved direct access to Q2: “It went well, because there were a lot of yellow flags and I was getting a bit impatient, but in the end I managed to do a clean lap with the soft tyre on the rear - said the Portuguese –I didn’t know if it was enough because 30.4s was really fast and I did a 31.2 and it was a bit far, but happy to make it through. Still some work to do for tomorrow morning pace wise, but we will try to sort out a couple of things to try to improve for tomorrow."
The market rumours do not seem to have affected Miguel, indicated by many observers as the number one candidate to replace Marc Marquez in Honda in 2024. A possibility that was denied by Massimo Rivola and Team Principal Razlan Razali, who declared that the Portuguese has no opt-out clause in the contract signed with the Veneto manufacturer.
“That's not true,” the Malaysian team's rider retorted decisively, convinced that he has the potential to obtain a good result on a track that seems particularly favourable to the Aprilia riders. Even if he can't explain what the reasons are that allow the RS-GP to perform so well in Indonesia.
“I have no idea, but it's interesting because yesterday I knew that we wouldn't have to worry about the layout of the track, because it suits many of the aspects of our bike. In my case I just have to understand how to take advantage of the Aprilia's strengths, because at the moment I don't feel particularly comfortable on the bike" admitted Oliveira, satisfied with the conditions of the circuit after the resurfacing: "They did a good job: there is good grip, the track is very smooth, there are no dips and even the curbs are pleasant. The problem is that the clean line is really narrow, so turns 1 and from 10 to 16 are the most critical for braking."
As for the points to improve for the rest of the weekend, Miguel didn't seem to have any doubts.
“I lose too much time in the second sector, the fast one, because I don't have enough turning and stability” explained the 28-year-old, convinced that he can close, at least in part, the gap with the two official riders of the Noale manufacturer: “I think I can be certainly closer to them than I am now. This is my target."
Complicated Friday for Fernandez: “With the soft tyre it was a disaster”
Unlike Oliveira, Raul Fernandez was unable to get into the top ten after encountering many difficulties this Friday in Mandalika.
“It wasn't a particularly good day. I hadn't felt this way on the bike since Barcelona - stated the Spanish rider - Today I wasn't able to ride the way I wanted, which is why I wasn't fast, even though I tried. The problem is that this weekend we have a new compound on the front which is very hard and for me it was quite difficult to get it to work, because sometimes you have to quickly understand what the race tyre is, how to manage the adjustments and maybe try two different bikes in FP1 and then make a decision, and that's exactly why I think it was a tough day. I felt good, but when we put the soft tyre on it was a disaster, because I couldn't go fast. I know that our bike has potential, but we need a solution for tomorrow because in the last races I have shown that I am at the level of the official riders and my goal is precisely to be close to the factory Aprilias."
This time the gap to make up is large, given that Fernandez was one second away from the benchmark set by Aleix.
“In my opinion, one of the main reasons for this big difference with the factory riders is the fact that they have more experience and have tried many tyres in their career, while for me it is the first time with this compound and I made a bit of confusion - Raul commented - I have nothing bad to say about the bike or the Aprilia. It's a good thing that they're so strong, because we can see what they've done to be fast and try to do the same".
