Aprilia has unveiled there 2021 MotoGP bike with Aleix Espargaró and Lorenzo Savadori riding the motorcycle for this season but what are the key differences to the motorcycle for this season?
Due to the ongoing pandemic, there were stricter rules and regulations from what you could normally do going into a season but since Aprilia has concessions they have less strict rules on what they can do with the Aprilia officially riders even being able to do some testing on there MotoGP bike over the winter but even though the bike looks quite similar to last year there is some major difference under the surface that will change the characteristics of the bike completely.
Just from looking at the bike the first main difference that we can notice is from the rear of the motorcycle is Aprilia's new tail unit as this year's bike has a lot squarer tail unit which looks a lot like a Ducati style teal unit and the reason why it looks like this is for extra weight as when the bike was first weighed it was originally underweight so Aprilia had to find a way around this and so now the Aprilia has 4kg worth of extra weight in the tail unit to keep the bike legal.
We also see at the rear of the motorcycle the exhaust has been changed as we have 2 exhausts one much like last year apart from the fact that it has 2 pipes that go into one which very much looks like a Ducati style exhaust and the other has a very flat end and is a short exhaust much like a Yamaha style exhaust.
Another difference that we can see is that Aprilia has shown off their new air scoop at the bottom of the fairing by the rear wheels which are meant to keep the tire cooler by being able to choose how the air hits the tire. What we cannot see is Aprilia's engine which has improved in acceleration but is still lacking in the top speed area compared to the Ducati's but what we have been able to see is that it does not seem like the slowest engine on the grid because of after the 3rd full day of MotoGP testing the Aprilia of Aleix Espargaró had a respectable 343.9Km/h compared to at last years test when their speed was 341.7Km/h.
The biggest difference is definitely the new aerodynamics as they have helped the riders with being able to turn the motorcycle better but the aero has also helped to make the bike stable for the riders and because of this it has given the likes of Aleix Espargaró the confidence and the speed to be able to top testing sessions but the aerodynamics obviously have one major trade-off being that they will be affecting top speed but in a full lap it will most likely gain back the time lost. Also at the Qatar test Aprilia have tried a second aerodynamic system which has a larger surface area and currently it seems like Aprilia is trying to find the balance between their Aerodynamic system to make the bike to be stable and turn but still have a good straight-line speed with Aleix Espargaró saying after day one “We are paying a little bit on the top speed, so we still have to find the balance and we still have to understand the bike to see the strong points and the weak points."
Many people said when this bike was unveiled that it was more of an evaluation than a revolution but by the sounds of it, it rides nothing like the 2020 bike at all with it being a lot more responsive and positive so although it may look very similar to last years bike the handling and performance of this motorcycle could be classed as a revolution but we will not know fully know until the first round at Qatar at the end of March.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, there were stricter rules and regulations from what you could normally do going into a season but since Aprilia has concessions they have less strict rules on what they can do with the Aprilia officially riders even being able to do some testing on there MotoGP bike over the winter but even though the bike looks quite similar to last year there is some major difference under the surface that will change the characteristics of the bike completely.
Just from looking at the bike the first main difference that we can notice is from the rear of the motorcycle is Aprilia's new tail unit as this year's bike has a lot squarer tail unit which looks a lot like a Ducati style teal unit and the reason why it looks like this is for extra weight as when the bike was first weighed it was originally underweight so Aprilia had to find a way around this and so now the Aprilia has 4kg worth of extra weight in the tail unit to keep the bike legal.
We also see at the rear of the motorcycle the exhaust has been changed as we have 2 exhausts one much like last year apart from the fact that it has 2 pipes that go into one which very much looks like a Ducati style exhaust and the other has a very flat end and is a short exhaust much like a Yamaha style exhaust.
Another difference that we can see is that Aprilia has shown off their new air scoop at the bottom of the fairing by the rear wheels which are meant to keep the tire cooler by being able to choose how the air hits the tire. What we cannot see is Aprilia's engine which has improved in acceleration but is still lacking in the top speed area compared to the Ducati's but what we have been able to see is that it does not seem like the slowest engine on the grid because of after the 3rd full day of MotoGP testing the Aprilia of Aleix Espargaró had a respectable 343.9Km/h compared to at last years test when their speed was 341.7Km/h.
The biggest difference is definitely the new aerodynamics as they have helped the riders with being able to turn the motorcycle better but the aero has also helped to make the bike stable for the riders and because of this it has given the likes of Aleix Espargaró the confidence and the speed to be able to top testing sessions but the aerodynamics obviously have one major trade-off being that they will be affecting top speed but in a full lap it will most likely gain back the time lost. Also at the Qatar test Aprilia have tried a second aerodynamic system which has a larger surface area and currently it seems like Aprilia is trying to find the balance between their Aerodynamic system to make the bike to be stable and turn but still have a good straight-line speed with Aleix Espargaró saying after day one “We are paying a little bit on the top speed, so we still have to find the balance and we still have to understand the bike to see the strong points and the weak points."
Many people said when this bike was unveiled that it was more of an evaluation than a revolution but by the sounds of it, it rides nothing like the 2020 bike at all with it being a lot more responsive and positive so although it may look very similar to last years bike the handling and performance of this motorcycle could be classed as a revolution but we will not know fully know until the first round at Qatar at the end of March.
