[faster and faster] - 2015 Aprilia RS-GP MotoGP bike unveiled, team to use 2015 seaso

[Ninjette Newsbot]

The V4-engined Aprilia RS-GP will be up against heavy hitters like the Yamaha YZR-M1 and Honda RC213V

Aprilia will be back in MotoGP this year and the Italian company fully understands how big a challenge that's going to be. While the RSV4 has done very well in World Superbikes in recent years, MotoGP is going to be a whole new world and the V4-powered Aprilia RS-GP will be up against heavy hitters like the Yamaha YZR-M1 and Honda RC213V. So, of course, it's only right that Aprilia will use the entire 2015 MotoGP season for research and development, with Alvaro Bautista and Marco Melandri doing the honours. In 2016, Aprilia will mount a full-on challenge, with a factory team in MotoGP.

“We have already been on the track for the first testing sessions of this new adventure that officially starts today. We chose to move up our start date, getting into the mix in the 2015 MotoGP World Championship because we believe that this is the solution which is certainly the most risky but also the best one to become competitive as quickly as possible," says Romano Albesiano, Aprilia's Racing Manager. "We certainly could have avoided the pressure and waited until next year, but that's not what Aprilia wanted. In terms of development we are starting on a solid foundation which is the result of our winning experience in Superbike and the ART project, the only CRT that was able to show potential close to real MotoGP bikes. For us this will be a year of testing, development, to be taken full advantage of as we look toward 2016 when we will be able to ride a real Aprilia prototype bike onto the track," he adds.
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