Aleix Espargaró kicked off his 2022 MotoGP season firmly at the top of the Sepang Test times on Saturday.

Espargaró led the way from the outset, his 1’58.371 effort set on his ninth lap of the day’s 42, and while Viñales matched the pace in the closing minutes - just 0.013s back - the Catalan was prevented from heading back out on soft tyres to refresh his time attack due to the workload required.

The Aprilia rider had made a brief appearance at the Sepang International Circuit earlier this week when he joined teammate Maverick Viñales and test rider Lorenzo Savadori for the final day of the Shakedown but admits the majority of his time was spent on the ’21-spec RS-GP, also seen at November’s Jerez test.

“The bike of Jerez basically was 99% of ‘21 bike,” Espargaró explained on Saturday evening from Malaysia. “We try different chassis, in different direction of chassis in Jerez that didn’t work. So this was the only positive thing of Jerez test because they develop the new frame on another complete direction and definitely the bike is better.

“Especially when turning, on handling the bike is a lot more agile, turns a lot better, also the engine is a little bit stronger.

“Overall, is my second day with the RS-GP 22. I just did one day of test before, on the shakedown, so still is a young bike. On the shakedown especially, I compare both bikes ‘21 and ‘22. Yesterday, my team built a completely new bike, and today I had the shakedown of bike two and we had some issues, had to stay in the garage many, many times during the day. So we lose a lot of time but this is why we are here to test.

“No, it hasn’t been a revolution,” he continued, reflecting on his new machine. “I think last year the bike was definitely a big step if we compare it with a 2020 bike and last year’s championship was quite solid. We finished in eighth place in a very difficult championship with more than 120 points. So no revolution needed, just to keep growing, keep getting closer to the leaders and this is what we did with the ‘22 bike.

“I feel, sincerely, better with the bike. I like a lot more than the ‘21 but it’s not just how good I feel, is how good is the bike in comparison with our rivals, this is always the key. We are not racing alone, it doesn’t matter if we improve one second, you will say ‘the bike is a lot faster, we improve one second’. Yes okay but if the rest improve 1.2s, the bike is 0.2s slower. So you always have to be careful, we still need to do a lot of miles before we race at Qatar so step by step but overall I’m positive. I think we did a good job during the winter.”

The Aprilia is noticeably slimmer in its 2022 form, a point Espargaro thinks is key to the new machine’s handling and agility.

“We did a good step on this, because last year when I was talking with Romano [Albesiano, Aprilia Racing team boss] at the end of the season, this was the plan. But it is not easy to put the engine, all the electronics and everything and to reduce the bike by such a big number as we did.

“When I was at Noale one month ago, three weeks ago for the photoshoot, I jump on the bike immediately when I arrive and I say ‘Wow, this is unbelievable’. It’s like a Moto2. The difference is huge from last year’s bike in this area. Sincerely from lap one it can help you a lot, especially on the fast turning to carry speed, to throw the bike in the corner. I think the strongest point of the bike now is the turning. You are facing some problems with the chattering but the turning is really an improvement and is due to this.

“We need more time, it’s difficult,” he continued. “Aprilia has been here almost a week, but I just did 40 laps. Sava and Maverick rode three or four days but I just rode one. So yes, I had an advantage, that’s for sure clear, but just one day and I basically use the morning of the shakedown to use the ‘21 bike. So yes, once again, I had a small advantage but I just rode once.

“I did today the lap time in lap I think six or seven - ‘58.3 - and then I have a lot of issues with the second bike and Romano and the engineers push me to try many things on the second bike to see if we have to change something during the night or not. So I was not able to use another soft tyre, just one go in the morning.

“I think I can go a lot faster. I think tomorrow morning I can go ‘57.

“So let’s see how we go but anyway, even if I am able to go ‘57.5 and I finish first, is just a test. We saw many times, I always put the same example, when Marc in the past or even Dovi were fighting for the championship, I remember many times in Qatar test they finish out of the top 10 and then they finish one-two in the race, so you know it’s just testing.”