Aprilia Racing

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Aprilia Racing

2024 name	Aprilia Racing
Base	Scorzè, Italy
Principal	Massimo Rivola
Racing manager	Paolo Bonora
Rider(s)	MotoGP: 12. Maverick Viñales 41. Aleix Espargaró 32. Lorenzo Savadori (test rider)
Motorcycle	Aprilia RS-GP
Tyres	Michelin
Riders' Championships	–

Aprilia Racing is a motorcycle racing team competing in the MotoGP World Championship.

History[edit]

Grand Prix World Championship[edit]

Despite being a relatively small company by global motorcycling standards, Aprilia is very active in motorcycle sports. It contested many Road Racing formulae, including the now-defunct 125 cc, 250 cc and 500 cc Grand Prix classes of the FIM World Championship. From 2002 to 2004, they participated in the FIM MotoGP World Championship, and from 1999 to 2002, they participated in the FIM Superbike World Championship. Aprilia has returned to World Superbike since the 2009 season and in MotoGP since the 2012 season.^{[citation needed]}

Aprilia also feature in the off-road racing world, with their 450 cc V-2 motocrosser producing respectable results (including race wins) in both off-road (Motocross) and on-road (Supermoto) categories.^{[citation needed]}

Aprilia made their international racing debut in the Motocross World Championship competing in the 125cc class from 1976 until 1981 with a best result being a fifth place in the 1979 season with rider Corrado Maddi.^[1] The firm then focused on the Grand Prix road racing world championships in 1985 and since then it has seen varying successes. Aprilia won their first world championship race at the 1991 Czechoslovak motorcycle Grand Prix with rider Alessandro Gramigni winning the 125cc race.^[2] In 1992, they won their first road racing world championship with Gramigni winning the 125cc class.^[2] They continued to be successful in the smaller displacement categories, winning numerous races and championships in the 125 cc and 250 cc Grand Prix classes.

However, their 500 cc Grand Prix bikes failed to attain the same success. They began campaigning in the 500cc class in 1994 with a 250 V twin motor enlarged to 380cc in hopes of using its lighter weight and nimble handling as an advantage against the heavier, V4 engine bikes used by the competition.^[2] The bike eventually displaced 430cc and had its best result with a third place by rider Doriano Romboni at the 1997 Dutch TT but, could never overcome power disadvantage during the starting line sprint and was withdrawn at the end of the 1997 season for further development.^[2] Their first MotoGP effort, dubbed the RS Cube, was technically advanced but difficult to ride and performed poorly in the championship. The Cube did, however, pioneer many advanced technologies including ride by wire throttle and pneumatic valve actuation systems. Aprilia left the MotoGP class at the end of 2004 and then left the lower classes when two-stroke engines were banned. Aprilia set the record for the most points earned by a manufacturer in a single season from the 125cc class with 410 points in 2007. It was also the highest points earned by a constructor in Grand Prix motorcycle racing's history until 2011 when 420 points were won by the same bikes winning 16 out of 17 races.^{[citation needed]}

The company is also notable for choosing atypical engine configurations.^[3] For example, they progressed with development of a V-2 500 cc Grand Prix bike when other teams were moving to V-4 configurations for what some believed was better and more usable power outputs. Aprilia continued this trend, taking advantage of lighter minimum weights with the introduction of their RS Cube MotoGP bike – featuring three cylinders in an inline triple layout, the bike had the fewest cylinders on the Grand Prix paddock.^{[citation needed]}

Aprilia rejoined the MotoGP class in 2012, taking advantage of the newly introduced Claiming Rule Team category that encouraged independent teams with lower budgets to use bikes from manufacturers not officially involved in MotoGP. Aprilia supplied RSV4 SBK-derived bikes under the ART (Aprilia Racing Technology) name to Aspar Team, Paul Bird Motorsport and Speed Master teams. In both the 2012 and 2013 seasons Aprilia's ART machinery stood out as the best CRT bikes.^{[citation needed]}

In 2015, Aprilia partnered with Gresini Racing as a factory-supported independent team. The team competed as the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini with an all-new 1000cc V4-engined RS-GP.^{[citation needed]}

In 2022, Aprilia entered the series as an official factory team for the first time since 2004.^[4] Their previously supported Gresini Racing team returned to a fully-independent team using Ducati bikes. Aprilia's factory team is named Aprilia Racing.

Riders' championships[edit]

Year	Class	Champion	Motorcycle
1992	125cc	Alessandro Gramigni	Aprilia RS125R
1994	125cc	Kazuto Sakata	Aprilia RS125R
	250cc	Max Biaggi	Aprilia RSV 250
1995	250cc	Max Biaggi	Aprilia RSV 250
1996	250cc	Max Biaggi	Aprilia RSV 250
1997	125cc	Valentino Rossi	Aprilia RS125R
1998	125cc	Kazuto Sakata	Aprilia RS125R
	250cc	Loris Capirossi	Aprilia RSV 250
1999	250cc	Valentino Rossi	Aprilia RSW 250
2000	125cc	Roberto Locatelli	Aprilia RS125R
2002	125cc	Arnaud Vincent	Aprilia RS125R
	250cc	Marco Melandri	Aprilia RSV 250
2003	250cc	Manuel Poggiali	Aprilia RSV 250
2006	125cc	Álvaro Bautista	Aprilia RS125R
	250cc	Jorge Lorenzo	Aprilia RSW 250
2007	125cc	Gábor Talmácsi	Aprilia RS125R
	250cc	Jorge Lorenzo	Aprilia RSA 250
2009	125cc	Julián Simón	Aprilia RSA 125
2011	125cc	Nicolás Terol	Aprilia RSA 125

Manufacturers' championships[edit]

• 250cc class
  • 1995, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
• 125cc class
  • 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011

MotoGP results[edit]

By rider[edit]

Year	Class	Team name	Bike	Riders	Races	Wins	Podiums	Poles	F. laps	Points	Pos.
2022	MotoGP	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia RS-GP	Maverick Vinales	20	0	3	0	0	122	11th
				Aleix Espargaró	20	1	6	2	2	212	4th
2023	MotoGP	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia RS-GP	Maverick Viñales	20	0	3	1	1	204	7th
				Aleix Espargaró	20	2	3	1	2	206	6th
				Lorenzo Savadori	3	0	0	0	0	9(12)	24th
2024	MotoGP	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia RS-GP	Maverick Viñales	4	1	1	1	1	63	5th
				Aleix Espargaró	4	0	0	0	0	39	8th
				Lorenzo Savadori	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC*

By season[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Motorcycle	Tyres	Riders	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Points	RC	Points	TC	Points	MC
2022				QAT	INA	ARG	AME	POR	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	GER	NED	GBR	AUT	RSM	ARA	JPN	THA	AUS	MAL	VAL
	Aprilia RS-GP	M	Aleix Espargaró	4	9	1	11	3	3	3	3	5	4	4	9	6	6	3	16	11	9	10	Ret	212	4th	334	3rd	248	3rd
			Maverick Viñales	12	16	7	10	10	14	10	12	7	Ret	3	2	13	3	13	7	7	17	16	Ret	122	11th
			Lorenzo Savadori					Ret	21		22			20		19								0	NC	—
2023				POR	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA	GER	NED	GBR	AUT	CAT	RSM	IND	JPN	INA	AUS	THA	MAL	QAT	VAL
	Aprilia RS-GP	M	Maverick Viñales	25	127	4	Ret7	Ret9	12	Ret	Ret7	53	68	23	56	88	199	24	11	Ret	11	46	104	204	7th	410	5th	326	3rd
			Aleix Espargaró	96	15	Ret4	5	58	68	169	34	15	97	11	128	Ret	5	10	8	85	Ret	Ret	8	206	6th
			Lorenzo Savadori						18		11		19											5 (12)	24th	—

References[edit]

External links[edit]