Aspar riders Randy de Puniet and Aleix Espargaro concluded the first day of testing at Valencia of their ART (Aprilia Racing Tecnology) bikes, based on the Aprilia RSV4, which now has a updated electronics package, a new fairing and carbon disk brakes and a new chassis (so Ducati won’t complain) that will better suited to the Bridgestone tires.
Both riders seemed happy with the bike, especially de Puniet who was able to make the comparison with the first version he rode during the Valencia post season test.
Randy De Puniet 1.
35.
30 (38 laps): “The grip of the bike has considerably evolved compared to the one that I rode at the end of last year.
This is the first test after several months and I am very happy.
I can see that there has been a lot of hard work done over winter to make the bike grow.
This first contact was very positive, I believe that tomorrow will continue to improve as the range is large.
Today we worked mainly on traction control and on braking points.
Tomorrow we will focus more on the chassis of the bike.
It’s still early but we’re seeing that the bike has huge potential and offers a number of options and can evolve .
I am very encouraged by this new adventure, I think there is a lot of work ahead, and although it is early my aim is to be the CRT reference ride and get as close to the factory bikes as much as possible.
“Aleix Espargaró 1.
36.
70 (47 laps): “I am very happy because I enjoyed very much, is the first time I’ve ridden the CRT, I expected a lot of power and that’s precisely what I found.
On the other hand I did not expect such a flexible and manageable chassis, I was pleasantly surprised.
I must admit that the first impression on this new bike has been great.
There had been some difficulties with the new tires, and personally I found a bike that has a lot of grip.
Today I met everyone on my team, and they gave me a warm welcome which is very important to me.
Today we worked mainly on electronics, traction control and the antispin.
From eleven to four pm we improved a lot, I think they’ve found a good base.
Tomorrow we’ll work more on the chassis.
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