Source: Supplied.

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini has completed its first full test of the new 2016 model RS-GP MotoGP machine during three days of on-track action at the Losail Circuit in Qatar.

Factory duo Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl began working on development straight away, immediately noticing promising room for improvement in the new prototype.

There really isn’t one single area where efforts were focused – the new RS-GP has nothing in common with previous Aprilia projects except for know-how. It is a completely new MotoGP bike in every component without exception, developed based on the data gathered during the 2015 season with last year’s laboratory bikes.

“After the Aragon shakedown with the test riders, Alvaro and Stefan began to get to know the new Aprilia RS-GP here in Qatar,” explained Aprilia Racing manager Romano Albesiano. “These were three very intense and positive days of work.

“We are bringing home a lot of information and some growing pain problems we need to solve, but above all we are leaving with confirmation that the new bike’s dynamic performance is significantly better than the 2015 bike.

“We have an important development path ahead of us that will be necessarily accelerated, but we are confident that this will be a season of growth toward a decidedly interesting level.”

The Aprilia RS-GP machines will be back on the track in Qatar just a few days from now for the official IRTA tests that precede the first race of the season.