Aprilia’s rise up the MotoGP standings continued as Aleix Espargaro claimed another top three finish on Sunday at Mandalika.

2022’s preseason testing concluded with both RS-GPs inside the combined top ten as Maverick Viñales claimed eighth, less then a tenth behind Espargaro’s 1’31.385 fastest which sat fourth overall thanks to Luca Marini’s impressive Saturday offering.

With progress from the Noale factory clear to see, what is the team captain expecting from the year ahead?

“It’s difficult to give you a clear answer because I’m always very ambitious, maybe too much,” Espargaro admitted from Indonesia. “I can do a very good championship, finish in top six and I will not be happy enough, but it is part of life, part of sport. I think the important thing is to be satisfied with the job and the work you have done and the thing to be satisfied will be to improve the championship of last year. This will be very important.

“Last year we finish eighth in the championship so if this year we are able to be close or even to score more points than 200 and to be able to stay inside the top six in the championship, I think will be a realistic good championship.

“You cannot finish eighth and the next year win the championship, this is very, very difficult, even if obviously this is what I want. It’s very, very difficult but we are working very hard. We are not super, super happy about our preseason. Is just one more preseason [test] we know that this is not racing, but we are doing good. The new bike works good since the first laps that Lorenzo [Savadori] did in Malaysia, so overall we are happy.

“Last year we achieve the first podium so obviously we’re going to try to win but it’s very difficult,” he said of his aim to put the Aprilia on the top step for the first time since the manufacturer’s return to the world championship.

“I think this year the championship is going to be the most difficult of the history in MotoGP racing for sure. Because the level of the bikes and the level of the riders is unbelievable.

“But yes, we are closer than ever to this target. Even if it’s a very, very difficult target we are closer than ever, so I will try. The bike improved almost every single part, hasn’t been a revolution but the evolution of every single part of the 2020 bike is clear.

“Regarding the agility under corner speed, the turning, this is the place where we improve the most,” he continued. “Also the engine is a little bit stronger. Aerodynamics as well because the bike is better, faster and wheelie a little bit less than 2020. So overall, we have improved almost all the bike.

“I think it was very important to be a factory team. I always had the feeling that we were a factory team but yes, this year Aprilia make a big effort because obviously we started almost from zero. They build a new team, new box, new trucks, everything and also some changes of new people coming. So hasn’t been easy, but I felt the transition has been smooth and has been very, very good, so I think we deserve this.”

With the Mandalika International Street Circuit added to the MotoGP calendar for this season, the paddock has spent three days on Lombok Island getting acquainted with the layout alongside the all-important testing programme. The Spaniard however, thinks the visit was too long.

“I think almost everybody in the safety commission yesterday, all riders we agree that we prefer to maybe have a little bit more testing, but to have more than two days, it’s not working for me,” he explained. “From my point of view, we’re not machines so at the end, you split more the time, you spend more time in the garage. At the end is better to concentrate everything in two days and try if possible to have minimum two or maybe three different circuits. But I never have liked the three day testing. The problem is that third day we are tired, which is normal, we are not machines, but it’s the day when you have to do the race simulation, when you also want to do the time attack. So yeah, I prefer two days.

“I’m forced to do the race simulation later today so the plan is in one hour and a half to start the race simulation,” he continued from his Sunday lunch break. “The problem is that testing is testing, is completely different than race. So even if you are able to be fast at one single lap or even to have good pace, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to win the race because in the race you have to change many things. You have to deal with the other competitors. You have the temperature of the tyre or the pressure of the front tyre normally increase if you follow somebody, so there are a lot of different things and racing is completely different.

“I had the feeling but this we will discover when we race, that our bike is a little bit better when we are alone than when we are fighting with the others. Our bike is I think better than our competitors in terms of corner speed, but if you are not allowed to use corner speed, you are in trouble. So let’s see. Anyway, we improve a little bit the engine. We could see this. It’s going to be helpful for the race I think.”

A discernible sight across the premier class grid is the intense training and lightweight frames of the athletes this season. Whilst the need to watch the rider/bike weight balance has always been a discussion - notably with Danillo Petrucci in recent years - the increasingly tight performance level means the margin, much like the riders, is becoming even slimmer.

“Yeah, it’s very important,” Espargaro confirmed. “Not all riders are slim like this but almost every rider and is important. I saw in the past with my teammates that even if we are close or we are 300 horsepower, at the end is a machine that has to move away. So less weight, more acceleration. As clear as this.

“If you have enough power to handle the bike with 60 kilos why you have to weigh 70? So to find this compromise is not easy. For the riders that are under 174/175 centimetres is very easy. Actually they can go into the gym also to have more strength, especially in the upper part of the body but for the riders who are more than 180, like my case, I am 180, it’s difficult. It’s very difficult to find this balance because I’m 65 kilos right now but I can’t take even one bottle of water and I can’t do anything of weight in the gym because is very easy to go 68/69 and then you start to lose acceleration and performance. So to have the strength and to be that lean, it’s not easy, but this is our job. When I push the engineers to have more horsepower I know is not easy also for them. So I’ll try my best, they try their best.”