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Aprilia showed up in force at Sepang for the first tests of the season. Just take a quick glance at the Noale garage, it looks like being in front of the window of a very special dealership so many bikes are lined up. There are no fewer than 10, plus the two in the garage next door, the ones Ai Ogura rides. The Veneto manufacturer - with the number 1 on the fairing brought as a dowry by Jorge Martin - knows it must change pace if it wants to succeed in putting a spoke in the wheels of Ducati's red army.
The winter homework has been done and for the first time all Noale's riders (Martin and Bezzecchi for the official team, Fernandez and Ogura for Trackhouse) will have the same bike: the RS-GP in 2025 version. In Sepang testing they will all start with the same specifications.
Martin and Bezzecchi, however, will have an extra bike each: the first prototype of the RS-GP 2025 they rode in Barcelona at the end of last season. The bikes are recognizable because they still have the dedicated liveries and the 2024 version fairing. Aprilia chose to bring those RS-GPs (which have not been touched over the winter except for normal maintenance) to allow Jorge and Marco to shake off the rust and pick up where they left off. It must be remembered that neither of them had ridden the 2024 bike in Spain, and it was not taken to Malaysia either.
In addition to that first prototype, the Spaniard and the Italian will have two more bikes apiece: these are the RS-GP 2025 with the latest evolutions. The fairing has been modified: it is immediately noticeable from the front wing, which does not join the 'fairing guards', also the blowers (the so-called ears) in the lower part of the fairing have reappeared and the side profile (the one that creates the ground effect) has also been modified.
The engineers from Veneto have not only worked on aerodynamics, because frame and swingarm have been updated, as well as the engine. Especially important for all manufacturers will be deliberating the best possible powertrain, because then its development will also be frozen for 2026.
The men from Noale are clear about where to work, because Martin and Bezzecchi's comments in Barcelona were precise and, more importantly, their impressions were very similar. They praised the great stability of the RS-GP's front end, but they also complained of some nervousness at the rear.
For this reason, electronics is an area where the greatest efforts are being concentrated. Test rider Lorenzo Savadori, today and tomorrow during the Shakedown, plans to do a lot of testing in this field, and then pass the ball to the riders who will have to deliberate, in Sepang testing and then in Buriram testing) the final solutions.
In the days of testing with the riders (which will start on Wednesday and end on Friday) we will also see other new details on the RS-GPs. Certainly there will be aerodynamic evolutions, especially on the rear of the bike. The Aprilias seen in the Sepang pits in fact have 'smooth' tailpipes, but it is very likely that some appendages will be tried (after all, the RS-GP had been the first in the past to sport a wing on that part as well).
