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GP News: On Seamless Gearboxes for Suzuki and Aprilia, Pedrosa's Comeback Still Uncertain

The two newcomer manufacturers, Suzuki and Aprilia, are working around the clock to have their seamless transmissions ready to race as soon as possible. It has become obvious that this gearbox type is a must in modern GP racing, and we can expect all the bikes lined up on the 2016 grid to have them.
Aprilia is also developing a seamless gearbox for MotoGP 1 photo
Photo: motogp.com
Suzuki had a much better season start than anticipated, with Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales already clawing 37 points in three races. The all-new GSX-RR prototype is under development, and a new power plant is expected to be ready to race after the Barcelona round.

As far as the seamless gearbox goes, Hamamatsu is ahead of Noale, as it may be that the first version of the new transmission could also start testing alongside the new engine. Satoru Terada and Davide Brivio have mentioned Suzuki's plan to start testing as soon as the championship reaches European ground. With the next 6 races taking place in Europe, we bet Suzuki will become quite busy.

So far, nobody knows the stage of development for the seamless transmission, whether it works for all gears and for both upshifting and downshifting, but we are definitely in for more info really soon.

Aprilia is not faring as well in the championship, as its riders only managed to earn one point. The current bike is, however, a lab bike, as the house of Noale is only using it to gather racing data. Aprilia is working on an all-new GP bike for 2016 and is, in a way, following in the steps of Ducati.

That is, using an old bike to test all the technologies which are expected to debut in the new machine and then porting them on the new frame, engine and all. Romano Albesiano was prudent talking to the media, but we might see Aprilia roll the first version of the seamless at Mugello, the earliest.

Dani Pedrosa's upcoming supermoto race will tell if he is ready to come back to MotoGP action

We reported earlier that Dani Pedrosa and the doctors supervising his post-surgery are still reserved as to whether he will be able to race at Jerez. The stitches have been removed and the inflammation backed off, but the progress must be doubled by patience as Pedrosa says on his Repsol blog.

This week, Dani Pedrosa will take part in a supermoto race ahead of the Jerez round and both he and the doctors will assess the condition of his arm. If Pedrosa makes it fast the finish line alright, we can expect that the MotoGP doctors also declare him fit to race on Thursday.

However, it looks like his substitute rider, Honda tester Hiroshi Aoyama is still in standby, ready to fill in for Pedrosa if need be. Stay tuned for more, as we're also expecting news from Marc Marquez.
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