Aprilia's ascendance to being a week-in, week-out MotoGP victory contender in 2025 has been supported by a key pillar of its RS-GP bike's competitive performance.
Four grand prix wins and three sprint wins were achieved during the season across Silverstone, Misano, Mandalika, Phillip Island, Portimao and Valencia, primarily by Marco Bezzecchi. Many of those venues were high-speed tracks, though Aprilia's performance was also notably improved at tracks that place an emphasis on stopping and exits out of slow corners.
"What we can see from the results of the races is that where aerodynamics make a very good impact, Aprilia is always the fastest bike," Honda rider Luca Marini mused towards the end of the season.
"So we [Honda] need to improve in this area - because during this season they won every race, or at least they could've won every race. In Indonesia, Bez didn't win [the grand prix] for a mistake, but every time that there are fast corners, the Aprilia is always the bike to beat.
"This means that on the aerodynamics side I think for every manufacturer there is a lot of work to do. And we are looking forward to improving it."
Aprilia motosport boss Massimo Rivola acknowledged Aprilia was "the reference" on high-speed tracks and concurred with Marini's assessment that the RS-GP had the best aero.
"Honestly, I think so. I don't think it just now - I think it's been like that for a while," he said. "We have many patents regarding the aero side.
"It's a bit of our strongest point, I would say. That means we need to work even more on the others, and keep the leadership of that area."
Though the season-closing win at Valencia proved definitively this bike is no one-trick pony, it is true Aprilia has also leaned on its aerodynamic performance in the past - and was often the grid's primary innovator (or at worst second to Ducati) in terms of aerodynamics.
This is again evidenced by the recent news, reported by Motor Sport Magazine, that MotoGP could ban "leg wings" - an aero innovation debuted by Aprilia mid-season.
But it's notable that Aprilia has managed to keep its aero standards given the change in technical regime it underwent at the end of the previous season.
With previous tech chief Romano Albesiano joining Honda, Aprilia picked up Fabiano Sterlacchini - then a free agent after a split with KTM - to replace him, and there has clearly been no aerodynamic let-up under Sterlacchini's stewardship.
There is also no indication Aprilia will take any focus off aerodynamics - as it brought comprehensive aero updates on a camouflage-liveried prototype to the post-season test, including a notably resculpted front fairing and sidepods and new designs on the tail of the bike.
Whether this will form Aprilia's aero set-up for 2026 remains to be seen.
Bezzecchi was guarded when discussing the aero work after the Valencia test, saying there was "not enough time to really understand" it - with Valencia also known as being suboptimal for aero testing. "It was just an appetiser," he stressed.
Team-mate Jorge Martin was a bit more forthcoming with information.
"We still need to do some meetings to understand what to try in Malaysia [in the pre-season]. Because the '25 bike was...we ended the season with a really good feeling, and to improve that is really difficult. To make a big change like the fairing is a really important decision, I think.
"Maybe there was a thing [aero-wise] in the rear of the bike that was helping a bit. The front wasn't a big difference actually, was working well - but not a big difference.
"But there was one of the specs in the rear, for sure I cannot tell you which one, but was working a bit better for me, to exit from the corners. I hope they will bring it for February."
Bezzecchi did also say there was not a massive difference, also in terms of peak laptime during the test, between what Aprilia has been running in-season and the 'camo' bike.
