Aprilia has shown good form all winter with its new RS-GP, with a number of riders – including reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo – praising the performance of the Italian marque’s bike.
And across the Qatar weekend, Espargaro was strong throughout, qualifying fifth and getting stuck into the podium battle.
Though he ultimately came up just nine tenths shy of a podium in fourth in last Sunday’s race, Espargaro feels he will now be able to fight at the front in 2022 – though admits “every weekend will be an exam” for Aprilia.
“I know it’s going to be an exam every single weekend for Aprilia because we have to reconfirm the best of the work,” he said.
“But we did it in Malaysia test, in Indonesia test, here in Qatar I think we did a strong weekend.
“I was alone with the bike in qualifying and pulling just 0.2s from pole, then the race I think I did one of the strongest ones.
“Unfortunately, the start wasn’t so good, so I lost time and I wasn’t…
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