WITH THE BEST RS-GP, ALEIX FINISHES EIGHTH IN THE SPRINT RACE
SUBPAR QUALIFIERS AND SPRINT RACE FOR MAVERICK

Aprilia's Saturday at the Mugello circuit did not bring the progress expected after the initial sessions held yesterday. Forced to participate in Q1, Maverick missed going through to Q2 by just 32 thousandths, finding himself on the fifth row of the starting grid. The race did not go any better, where he confirmed the same position.

Things went slightly better for Aleix who, still suffering with a painful right foot, finished his qualifiers with a respectable eighth place. After losing a few positions in the early stages of the sprint race, he demonstrated a good pace and, overtaking Quartararo and Bastianini in the finale, he finished eighth.

It was a good Sprint race for Lorenzo Savadori who, with the Aprilia Test Team RS-GP, fought hard in the group battling for fifteenth. Only contact with Morbidelli towards the end relegated him to an eighteenth-place finish.

Aleix
"The great job done by the clinic and Dr. Charte helped me a lot today. This morning I was still in a lot of pain, but in the sprint race I managed to ride without any big problems. I expected more, if I'm honest. I didn't have a good start, losing a few positions, and then I was further penalised when I went long at the San Donato corner. In the finale I had more traction than Fabio and Enea, so I was able to overtake them and that gives us some good motivation in view of the long race tomorrow."

Maverick
"We weren't as fast as I would have expected. The real problem was not going through to Q2 yesterday. Starting from behind with a lot of fast bikes makes everything extremely complicated. For tomorrow, I expect a different race. In the final, physical stamina will also count for a lot. In any case, it is still difficult to gain positions but I have to try."