The weekend could not have started any better

THE APRILIA RS-GP MACHINES ARE AHEAD OF THE REST ON THE FIRST DAY IN INDONESIA

ALEIX, FIRST, AND MAVERICK, SECOND, BREAK THE MANDALIKA TRACK RECORD

The Aprilia Factory RS-GP machines started off strong for the first day of practice on the spectacular Indonesian Mandalika circuit. And they did so from the morning free practice sessions, with Viñales second and Espargaró third, both immediately at ease astride the Italian bike. And when things got serious, the two factory riders did even better, dominating the afternoon session, which is where the top ten riders are chosen to go straight through to Saturday’s Q2 qualifying session. 

Aleix, in spite of a crash on one of his fast laps, set the new track record with a time of 1’30.474, just 154 thousandths faster than Maverick who, extremely consistent on every run and, although not finding a perfect lap, also finished faster than the old record.

ALEIX
"Today I really had fun riding the RS-GP. The new asphalt is an important step. Despite it being only Friday, it already has good grip and there are no bumps. The characteristics are suited both to the Aprilia and to my riding style. I’m especially pleased about our pace even on used tyres. After doing a good time, I was pushing perhaps a bit too hard and I crashed, but without consequences. It was important to get back out on the track and drop the time even farther with a less than perfect lap. That means that we have the right feeling and that there is still margin for improvement."

MAVERICK
"It was an extremely positive day, even over and above the final position, which is obviously outstanding. And the time came in spite of being unable to do a truly clean lap due to the yellow flags. We worked well and it is extremely satisfying to see how much we’ve improved since last season. Now we need to keep working well. We have the FP3 session tomorrow to get a good idea of how the bike is performing and to make a tyre choice."