Category: Superbikes

1. THE APRILIAS DO WELL WITH ALEIX AND MAVERICK BOTH THROUGH TO Q2

   Posted on 12:00pm Sunday 6th Nov 2022

   IN THE DECISIVE QUALIFYING SESSION MAVERICK, WEAKENED WITH FEVER, GRITS HIS TEETH TO TAKE A NICE SPOT ON THE SECOND ROW

   FOURTH ROW FOR ALEIX, STILL A CONTENDER FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP PODIUM

   
   The Saturday in Valencia ahead of the final MotoGP championship race was decidedly positive for the Aprilia colours. After some struggles on Friday where both riders were outside the top ten, both Aleix and Maverick regained control of the situation. Aleix began, doing the sixth time in the morning FP3 session which sent him straight through to the qualifiers with the top riders.
   Maverick, on the other hand, didn’t manage to go straight through but redeemed himself in the first qualifying round, beating out all his rivals and also going through to the session that decides who will start from the front rows.

   Although far from being in his best physical shape due to a fever that tormented him throughout the day, Maverick was able to further improve in the final Q2 qualifying session, doing a fantastic time of 1’29.995 which earned him a spot on the second row of the starting grid (sixth-best time) for the race tomorrow.

   Aleix, who had demonstrated even more confidence than his teammate in the morning session, struggled a bit more to do a good lap, finishing with the tenth time (1’30.124). His hunt for a position on the championship podium will start from the fourth row tomorrow as he is currently lying third in the overall standings.

   In the race tomorrow, Aprilia Racing will also be chasing a prominent spot both in the Constructor and Team championship standings. In both categories, the Italian manufacturer is currently second – demonstration of their fantastic season and by far the best one yet in Aprilia’s brief history.

   Aleix Espargaró
   “I must say that we did a really good job between yesterday and today. In fact, I now feel rather good in terms of pace. I was unable to find a good lap in qualifying and that’s a pity because the spot on the starting grid doesn’t fully reflect our level. In any case, I’m optimistic for the race. We’ll do the best we possibly can to finish out this great season.”

   Maverick Viñales
   "Today was not an easy day for me. Since yesterday I’ve had a fever that has left me rather weak but I still battled and in the end we managed to take a good step forward and, most importantly, we had good qualifiers. It is important for us to continue improving and working. I’ll try to get some rest now and be in good form for tomorrow."

2. COMPETITIVE START FOR BASTIANINI AT VALENCIA

   Posted on 12:00pm Saturday 5th Nov 2022

   #ValenciaGP Free Practice. Enea Bastianini and Team Gresini Racing MotoGP had a good start to the final event of the season, with the #23 fifth-quickest in today’s combined free practice times. The Italian rider, who is still in the battle for a top-three overall finish, is only 0.177seconds in arrears of fellow Ducati rider Marini, and he still has some fine tuning to do.
    
   Fabio Di Giannantonio’s day was not a positive one, as the Italian tucked the front at turn two in the second FP session - but was fortunately unscathed after the tumble. The series rookie finished the day second-last with slightly more than a one and a half seconds of gap. He and his crew will need to roll up their sleeves and try to bounce back tomorrow, starting from the morning’s Free Practice 3. 

   5^th - ENEA BASTIANINI #23 (1’30.394s)
   “It was a good day. We struggled a little in FP1, but we were in a good place already in the afternoon. The FP2 time attack gave us a good feeling, even though I know I can improve a little in the third split and at the last corner. We’re OK in the rest of the track. Our pace is consistently quick despite some tiny little mistakes here and there. We still need a small extra step forward for the race, but we’re in line for a good weekend.”
    
   23^rd - FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO #49 (1’31.762s)
   “We surely didn’t get off to a good start. We tried to improve in FP2, and we did it, but the crash at turn two slowed us down and there will be a lot to catch up with tomorrow in order to have a good Saturday.”

3. VALENCIA THE LAST CHAPTER FOR THE TOP-3 BATTLE

   Posted on 12:00pm Tuesday 1st Nov 2022

   #ValenciaGP preview. There is a lot still in play for the final round of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship, with Enea Bastianini in contention for third overall. After Sepang’s excellent podium, the rider #23 is only one point away from Aleix Espargaró, who is ahead of him in the standings. 
    
   After clinching the 2022 Best Independent Rider title thanks to an impressive tally of wins and podiums – an achievement that was one of the many highlights of Gresini Racing’s incredible MotoGP return season – Bastianini will now try to secure also the world championship top three: he will only need to score one point more than the #41 of Aprilia Racing. 
    
   The Ricardo Tormo Circuit is a favourable one for ‘Bestia’, who also did well last year in his MotoGP debut (8^th) even though he is yet to step on the Valencian podium – his best result is a fourth place in 2016, Moto3 class):

   The season finale will represent an important round also for Fabio Di Giannantonio, who wants to wrap up his MotoGP rookie season with a smile after several ups and downs. The #49 was on the podium there last year in his final Moto2 race before the jump to MotoGP.  

   ENEA BASTIANINI #23 (4^th in the championship standings with 211 points)
   “This will be my last race with team Gresini and I will try to celebrate it the best way possible. It will surely be a complex race, with many competitive riders… We’re on a roll and we know our potential, so we’ll try to do well and finish in the world championship top-three.”
    
   FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO #49 (20^th in the championship standings with 23 points)
   “A challenging season is about to end, but we’re not giving up at all. We’ll try to have a good weekend before diving into testing with the new bike. Our head is already focused on 2023, but we also want to be back in the points on a track that I like and where I’ve always done well.”

4. SEPANG RACE

   Posted on 2:00pm Sunday 23rd Oct 2022

   ALEIX AND APRILIA’S CHAMPIONSHIP DREAMS STAY ALIVE ALL THE WAY TO THE PENULTIMATE ROUND

   ALL EYES ON VALENCIA NOW TO FINISH OUT AN EXTRAORDINARY SEASON RESPECTABLY

   
   The tenth place finish taken by the skin of his teeth renders merit to Aleix’s determination and grit after a season which is already the best by far of Aprilia history. A title contender all the way to the penultimate round, still third in the overall rider standings, with a double second place in the constructors and team standings, these are extraordinary results for an Italian project made up of commitment, innovation, and humility which, just this year, tackled its first season as an official factory team.

   The race today neither takes away or adds much to the analysis. These are important points to keep the race for third overall alive and to look optimistically towards the highly anticipated 2023 season.

   Unfortunately, in the race Maverick once again confirmed the problems with grip he had found in his most recent outings, unable to make up positions after a less than perfect start. Eyes on Valencia for him as well, which will be the final race of his first full season with Aprilia and a chance to finish with a smile this championship where he has, in any case, performed brilliantly.

   ALEIX ESPARGARÓ
   "Battling for the championship title was a dream come true and, in any case, I am proud of what we accomplished this year. However, it’s still a pity not to have finished the season the way we deserved. In the last few races, something didn’t work right and we need to understand why. I’m convinced that we’ll be able to confirm our good performance next year as well. We have demonstrated that we have the speed. Now it's time to hit reset, head home, and get ready for Valencia. We can still make a play for third place and, above all, finish out this season with a good race."

   MAVERICK VIÑALES
   "It’s hard to find an explanation. All we have to go on is results and they tell us that we have work to do. The situation needs to be analysed, understood, and used to improve. For Aprilia and me this was our first year together and we still have a lot to learn. Like in Australia, we were competitive in spurts but at the end of the day, we were unable to fully exploit our potential and convert it into a good race. Now we’ll take a week off to rest up because it has been a long and demanding season and then all eyes on Valencia and the future."

5. ENEA NARROWLY MISSES ON SEPANG EXPLOIT

   Posted on 12:00pm Sunday 23rd Oct 2022

   Team Gresini MotoGP and Enea Bastianini had an excellent show of strength at Sepang and once again proved to be among the main protagonists of the season. Another podium came for the #23 - which adds to the already excellent series of accomplishments of 2022 – at the end of a race battled with his soon-to-be teammate and likely next champ Bagnaia.

   Bastianini managed both race and tyres well while trying to win after Martin’s early exit from the race. The battle with Pecco was an exciting one, with the 20 points secured today which are going to be key for an overall top-three finish in the season. Enea now only has to rely on himself to achieve this incredible result: one more point on Aleix Espargaró at Valencia would be enough to secure third place. 

   Fabio Di Giannantonio wrapped up his Malaysian weekend ten laps too early. The rider #49 tucked the front at turn five while battling for a top-15 finish with a big group of riders. The last chance to finish the year on a high will be at Valencia in a fortnight’s time.

   2^nd - ENEA BASTIANINI #23 
   “I’m happy, because 20 points are important to continue the chase to Espargaró, but at the same time I’m a little disappointed because when I was at the front, something changed and the feeling with the bike wasn’t the same. We’ll analyse the data to understand what happened… The important thing is that we showed once again to be among the top players in this category. We’ll try to wrap things up the best way at Valencia.”
   
   DNF FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO #49
   “I had a good started and maintained my position despite all the coming togethers of the first laps, but I saw immediately that we were losing traction compared to Pol Espargaró, who was ahead of us. Too bad, because we were in the group fighting for a top-15 finish and I pushed hard for this result: unfortunately I lacked feeling with the front-end and I eventually crashed. Now let’s focus on Valencia.”