Aprilia is one of only two manufacturers who will be able to launch a completely new bike in 2021. This is a series of cost-saving measures put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has made changes that, according to Espargaro, have made the RS-GP “very different”, despite not being a major revolution.
The Spaniard has been testing the bike since November and was the fastest on the opening day of the Qatar test on Saturday. After training on Sunday, he was 0.212 seconds behind third place in the combined times.
With MotoGP rivals unable to develop their bikes as strongly, Aprilia has the best chance of closing the gap with the leaders in 2021 and Espargaro believes the Italian manufacturer is in “good shape”.
“I think we really deserve it,” said Espargaro.
“I think from the bottom of my heart, we deserve a good year, we deserve to maybe not take the final step, but we deserve to fight with the best bikes and the best drivers on the grid.”
“We had a bit of a problem last season, but this year the bike looks really better.
“After two days of very, very good lap times from everyone, we can say that we are in a good line, we are in good shape.
“There is still a long way to go to Valencia, but we are on the right track.”
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Espargaro was concerned about predicting the season this early after being hit by a “shock to reality” in races last year after a similarly encouraging testing period.
However, he believes his optimism is justified as his pace is faster than last year in Qatar.
“Last year I was happy we did a good winter test but we were in the mix to finish sixth to tenth which we did in the latter part of the season,” he added.
“But unfortunately we couldn’t find the balance to fight for sixth to tenth place for the whole season, which I was aiming for in the test before the season.
“But that’s a different story. In this test and also in Jerez, the lap times we set are more competitive than last year.
“We ran the timesheets for most of the day yesterday and most of the day today, and in the end I only missed two tenths.
“And in terms of the race simulation, I did a lot of laps in 1: 54 minutes. So yeah, this bike looks better than last season.
“The races will be different, but I think it’s a lot better than last season.”
Espargaro noted that the new bike was heavier in the turns and the new aerodynamics package cost it some top speed, but believes the RS-GP has gained in acceleration and eliminated chatter.