Aprilia Racing
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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]
- ^ "1979 125cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
- ^ a b c d Noyes, Dennis; Scott, Michael (1999), Motocourse: 50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix, Hazleton Publishing Ltd, ISBN 978-1-874557-83-8
- ^ Oxley, Mat (April 4, 2022). "How Aprilia finally made it to the top of MotoGP". Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
- ^ McLaren, Peter (29 April 2021). "Official: Aprilia gets Factory grid places for MotoGP 2022". Crash.net. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29. Retrieved 20 May 2021.