MotoGP: Andrea Dovizioso to test Aprilia RS-GP

Andrea Dovizioso will test the Aprilia RS-GP at Jerez in April.

Andrea Dovizioso, who will be 35 years old next week, will test the 2021 Aprilia RS-GP at Jerez on April 12-14th. He left the MotoGP paddock at the end of 2020 without a contract or a plan B after very publically quitting Ducati before winning the race in Austria the very next day. After much consideration he announced he was taking a sabbatical year to focus on himself ahead of a 2022 return, however, things just hotted up!

He did receive an offer from Aprilia during the season to ride for the Noale brand but did not feel like this was suitable for him at the time, yet after some deliberation it seems Dovizioso and Aprilia have remained communicating with one another and have announced that he will test their RS-GP at Jerez following from some very impressive pre-season tests at Qatar.

Dovizioso is one of Ducati’s most successful riders and will be able to bring a weath of experience to the team boasting multiple MotoGP championship runner up medals and experience with Ducati and Honda. Aleix Espargaro has previously commented about what Dovizioso could bring to Aprilia saying, “From my point of view it would be amazing to have him as a teammate, I think he would make me grow, I would learn a lot from him, I think that I can be very fast with the Aprilia, but having a teammate next to Andrea’s level and with the ‘know-how’ he has from Ducati would be brilliant for Aprilia.”

Massimo Rivola: “It was a pleasure to invite Andrea to test. The days in Jerez will simply be a chance to get to know one another better, also on the track. It will not be a ‘trial matrimony’ but an opportunity to turn some laps together without any binding commitment for the future. We are all well aware of Andrea’s qualities and his contribution will be important, even for just one test.”

Andrea Dovizioso: “I was pleased by Aprilia’s interest when we spoke about the possibility of doing this test, I gladly accepted the invitation to be able to ride a MotoGP bike again and to stay in form, giving the engineers my feedback. I want to thank Aprilia Racing this opportunity.”

Featured image – Aprilia Racing