Photo: motogp.com
Aprilia’s hesitations when it comes to a factory entry return to the MotoGP have been in the news for some times, with the last official declarations indicating a decisive move for the 2016 season. However, it looks like the boss of the Noale racing department, Romano Albesiano has gone a long way to obtain a competitive bike… and the Spanish magazine Marca says that Aprilia is now eyeing a comeback for 2015.
Still, the info was not officially confirmed by Aprilia, but other details related to this comeback have also surfaced. The most important is obviously, the rumor on the two pilots Aprilia Racing Team plans to field in 2015. One of them is said to be Alvaro Bautista, while his team mate is supposed to be Eugene Laverty, brother to MotoGP rider Michael Laverty.
Alvaro Bautista is a former 125cc World Champion, and currently under contract with LCR Honda, riding a factory supported bike. Even though it looks like Bautista has been offered a contract extension, we’ll just have to see how tempting the Aprilia factory seat looks. As for Eugene Laverty, this move is a dream come true, as the Irishman comes from the World Superbike where he rides a Suzuki machine, and taking the step up into the premier class is a big entry in his racing resume.
The same source reports that Aprilia has been accelerating the development of the future MotoGP bike. Still it is uncertain whether the new prototype will be based on the former ART machine. Still, in such a short period it’s rather hard to believe that Albesiano had time to develop the completely new machine he was mentioning in the past. The ART was already using pneumatic valves, and adding a seamless gearbox would get the bike closer to the tech specs of other factory rides. Time will tell…
On the other hand, it looks like Marc Van Der Straten (VDS) is also making preparations for a MotoGP entry in the not-so-distant future. Gp-inside has talked to Michael Bartholemy, team manager for Team Marc VDS and he shared some of the team’s plans for the future.
It appears like the move to MotoGP is already established as the ultimate goal, with 2016 being the first premier class season for the Belgian team. The plans are to drop the Moto3 bike MVDS is operating this year and field a three-bike setup in Moto2. Bartholemy says that the team definitely has the resources, both logistic and financial, to run such a setup, and with the good results in Moto2, the move is a rather natural one.
In 2016 however, Marc VDS is expecting to field at least one bike in MotoGP, with one of the names mentioned being that of Tito Rabat. If these two teams really come out and play, we might be in for even more MotoGP excitement over the following seasons, and man, this feels so good!
Alvaro Bautista is a former 125cc World Champion, and currently under contract with LCR Honda, riding a factory supported bike. Even though it looks like Bautista has been offered a contract extension, we’ll just have to see how tempting the Aprilia factory seat looks. As for Eugene Laverty, this move is a dream come true, as the Irishman comes from the World Superbike where he rides a Suzuki machine, and taking the step up into the premier class is a big entry in his racing resume.
The same source reports that Aprilia has been accelerating the development of the future MotoGP bike. Still it is uncertain whether the new prototype will be based on the former ART machine. Still, in such a short period it’s rather hard to believe that Albesiano had time to develop the completely new machine he was mentioning in the past. The ART was already using pneumatic valves, and adding a seamless gearbox would get the bike closer to the tech specs of other factory rides. Time will tell…
On the other hand, it looks like Marc Van Der Straten (VDS) is also making preparations for a MotoGP entry in the not-so-distant future. Gp-inside has talked to Michael Bartholemy, team manager for Team Marc VDS and he shared some of the team’s plans for the future.
It appears like the move to MotoGP is already established as the ultimate goal, with 2016 being the first premier class season for the Belgian team. The plans are to drop the Moto3 bike MVDS is operating this year and field a three-bike setup in Moto2. Bartholemy says that the team definitely has the resources, both logistic and financial, to run such a setup, and with the good results in Moto2, the move is a rather natural one.
In 2016 however, Marc VDS is expecting to field at least one bike in MotoGP, with one of the names mentioned being that of Tito Rabat. If these two teams really come out and play, we might be in for even more MotoGP excitement over the following seasons, and man, this feels so good!
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