Aprilia have been mooted as the team who c𓆉ould most closely combat Ducati in MotoGP’s earliest rounds.

The season kicks off on March 8 in Qatar, a🃏fter a preseason which dropped hints about who might ch⭕allenge the established order.

April𝄹ia are the outfit who caught the eye of Simon Crafar in the paddock.

“Up u𝓡ntil [Tuesday], I hadn’t thought so,” he said. “I thought it would be KTM.

“[Tuesday] they looked really good. It all se�꧟�ems to have come together.

“I just🔥 came back from Aleix Espargaro’s debrief and he said that he’s riding the best of his life, and the machine he has is the best motorcycle he’♏s ever ridden.

“I’ll summarise -🅷 it’s got a different chassis, it’s lighter, a bit more flexible, the swingarm is the same. They’ve ♉saved weight but improved the flexibility which helps grip.

“They’ve got the ꦚarea thing w🌌hich helps Aleix. The Formula 1 style tail end that obviously puts downforce on the back of it.

New wings…

“They’ve done a lot of work.

“They haven’t got the engine. He touched o🍬n the engine because we all wanted to know what’s coming.

“They’re the only ones☂ without the ‘24 spec engine.

“He said that he spoke to [technical director] Romano Albesiano over the winter to ask ‘wh🧔at are we going to get?’

“And Romano said ‘we’ve got s🔯o much more than we expected from this engine, the numbers 💝are really high’.

“𒈔It makes sense. It has won races. It💛 is really competitive.

“I took from that - don’t expect too much. I𝓰t’s a small step🐲 forward again.

“When you’re that high, it’s hard to get more.

“𒅌I think, overall, Aprilia are really innovative especially in the aerodynamic department.

“They have �ꦿ�invented things that others have copied. At least three things that I know of.

“Competitive-wise, they surprised me.

“Raul? Amazing job considering he𓂃’s still in pain.

“Aleix? Super𓆉 fast, in both one-off laps and long runs. Look🙈ing really good.”

💛Factory Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez benefited from the bol🦩d aero that was used.

♐But Espargaro’s teammate Maverick Vinales, and Fernand🉐ez’s teammate Miguel Oliveira, did not.

“To touch on the other t🥀wo who don’t like the aero so much,” Crafar explained.

“I spoke to one of their engineers.

“He mentioned that the smaller riders seem more affected by the tail. It doesn’t suit them so much꧋.

“They have gone back to th൩e ‘23 for Oliveira a🎐nd Vinales.

“They are trying to make those riders happy.

“Aprilia, overall, are doing a really good job.”