Aprilia, Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi have an'extra weapon for 2026

With Jorge Martin still struggling with physical recovery, at home Aprilia the choices on the development of the bike fall again on Marco Bezzecchi, just as happened last season. The Noale-based team wasted no time and in the Sepang tests immediately began to show the first technical innovations on the RS-GP26, focusing in particular on aerodynamics and electronics. After celebrating the renewal with Bezzecchi until 2028, therefore, Aprilia wants to evaluate right away the real potential of the new bike.

Fabiano Sterlacchini, technical director of the Venetian manufacturer, had anticipated this at the official presentation: the first solutions would arrive already in the Malaysian tests. And so they did. On Bezzecchi’s bike, in fact, important changes appeared in the rear end area: Aprilia abandoned the flashy biplane rear wing seen in the past, adopting a different solution that slightly shifts the aerodynamic pressure center forward, with the aim of improving the behavior of the bike in the various driving phases.

Claudia Ferrarini

Great attention was also paid to the seat winglet, on which the Noale brand continued to work hard. The cascade of flaps was further developed with the’addition of a third element: now one flat and two high-incidence profiles are clearly distinguishable, forming a kind of “castle” aerodynamic. A choice that also explains Aprilia&#8217s strong opposition to the International Federation&#8217s attempt to ban leg wings ahead of the new season, the last before the 2027 regulatory revolution.

Further back, in the area where the tail noticeably narrows, a curious carbon rim has made its appearance that acts as a flow conveyor. This element could have a dual function: on the one hand to improve vertical thrust at the lean, and on the other to clean up the flows on the straight, making the bike more efficient at high speeds and aiding straight-line performance.

Aprilia thus promises to continue its growth phase heading into the new season, as Bezzecchi already anticipated to the microphones of Sportal.it at the presentation: “We can do better than 2025, we must work hard to achieve it”. A clear signal that the work has just begun: the House of Noale does not want to leave anything to chance for the season that is about to begin.