The Aprilia MotoGP outfit has become the final manufacturer to unveil the war colours that will adorn its RS-GP throughout the 2022 campaign.
Joined by riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales, the Italian marque removed the covers from its machine in an online launch ahead of the second – and final – pre-season test of the year at the new Mandalika circuit in Indonesia, which kicks off on Friday.
This year marks the first in which Aprilia will operate its team fully in-house following its split with long-time partners Gresini Racing, which is going it alone with customer Ducati steeds in 2022.
The updated bike – which impressed throughout Sepang testing as it ended the test second fastest overall in the hands of Espargaro having led the opening day – features a tweaked livery that sees a slight reduction in overall vibrancy with the removal of the green flashes of minor sponsor Castrol, replaced to an extent by a larger Aprilia logo on the side of the RS-GP.
Espargaro will enter his sixth premier class campaign with Aprilia off the back of his most successful season with the brand so far in 2021, the Spaniard having scored its first rostrum in over two decades at the British Grand Prix en-route to eighth in the riders standings as he hopes to go a couple of steps higher on the podium this season.
Vinales meanwhile will embark on his first full term with Aprilia having joined it for the final six races last year following his dismissal from the Yamaha factory squad, with which he scored his sole 2021 success in the season opening Qatar GP.
He ended up tenth overall after scoring points in two of his five outings on the RS-GP having missed the Americas GP, a personal best coming with eighth in the Emilia Romagna GP at Misano.
Lorenzo Savadori – who competed as Espargaro’s team-mate last year until sustaining a nasty ankle injury in Austria before being replaced by Vinales – will remain onboard as test rider for the organisation.
Only the VR46 Ducati outfit is yet to reveal its colour scheme for the year, the Valentino Rossi-owned team yet to confirm when it intends to remove the covers from its 2022 challenger.
