Aprilia stars hail performance jump in Jerez test

Aprilia MotoGP riders have said that the Italian marque took a step forward during the Monday test at Jerez.

Factory rider Jorge Martin and Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez agreed that progress had been made in the first in-season test of the year, in which three Aprilia riders topped the timesheets despite losing the previous day's race to Ducati and Alex Marquez.

For his part, Martin finally had a chance to try parts that he missed out on testing when he was injured earlier in the year. Speaking to media at lunchtime, he said that had gone well.

"I'm recovering the time I lost in February!" explained the man who had finished the Spanish GP fourth a day earlier. "There are new parts... well, they are not new, but new for me, that I couldn't use during the first races that the other riders were using. So, yeah, it was impossible to try them during a race weekend, so today was a really important day for me.

"Every time I went on the track, I made big improvements. I improved in braking, turning and acceleration! So, yeah, big step, big step. 

"It seems like the bike is more natural for me to ride and, yeah, everything is smoother."

Martin was also happy to quantify his improvement since the grand prix, adjusting for the usual high-grip surface making for a fast track on the Monday after the race.

"I think [it was] two tenths in terms of pace we gained. For sure, the track improved a bit today, six or seven tenths. But the real gain [for us] was two tenths."

Raul Fernandez, Trackhouse Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Fernandez, who was second-fastest behind team-mate Ai Ogura in the final reckoning, was glowing about the advances made in a couple of departments.

"It was a very good day," said the man coming off a sixth place in the Spanish Grand Prix. "I'm happy because I think we found something also for the time attack. It was the priority yesterday when we won the race. 

"It looks like it worked because I was riding in the [1m35s bracket] for the first time at Jerez. But also I improved almost three tenths in the second sector.

"We need to confirm it at Le Mans, but the test was super positive. We tried some aerodynamic things; we also tried a new chassis. All these things I like a lot. 

"With all the things that we tried I was super fast with the medium tyre... during the day we were not just focused on the time attack. We had time enough to work on the bike setup and the new things that Aprilia gave me. So I am very happy."