Aprilia have been moo🔯ted as the team who could most ♉closely combat Ducati in MotoGP’s earliest rounds.

The season kicks off on March 8 in Qatar, after a preseason which dropped hints about who might c🌱hallenge the established order.

Aprilia are 😼the outfit who caught the eye of Simon Crafar in the p꧋addock.

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

“[Tuesday] they looked ✅really good. It all seems to have come together.

“I just came back from Aleix Espargaro’s debr🍌ief and he said that he’s riding the best of his life, and the machine h💯e 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 wei🦂ght but improved the flexibility which helps grip.

“They’ve got the area thing whiꦫch 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 on the engine because we all wanted to know what’s coming.

“Tꦬhey’re the only ones without the ✱‘24 spec engine.

“He said that he spoke to [technical director] Romano A🦹lbesiano ove🦄r the winter to ask ‘what are we going to get?’

“And Romano said ‘we’ve got so much more tꦡhan we expected from this engine, the numbers are really high’.

“It makes sense. It has won races. It is reall🍨y competitive.

“I took from that - don’t expect too much🌊. It’s a 🌼small step forward again.

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

“I think, overall, Apriliﷺa are really innov🌞ative especially in the aerodynamic department.

“They have invented th🐭ings 𒆙that others have copied. At least three things that I know of.

“Competitive-wise, they surprised me.

“Raul? Amazing job considering he’s stil𝓰l in pain.

“Aleix? Super fast, 𝔍in both one-off laps and long runs. Looking reꦓally good.”

Factory Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and Trac🎉khouse’s Raul Fernandez benefited from the bold aero that was used.

But Espargaro’s teammate Maverick Vinales, and Fernandez’s teammate ꦫMiguel Oliveira, did not.

“To touch on the other two who don’t💙 like the a🍬ero so much,” Crafar explained.

“I spoke to one of their engineers.

“He mentioned that the smaller riders seem more affected by the tail. It doe🌺sn’t ﷽suit them so much.

“They have gone back to the ‘23 for Oliv𓃲e💜ira and Vinales.

“They are trying to make those riders happy.

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