APRILIA Racing manager Romano Albesiano has described the first official MotoGP test of 2015 as 'positive'.
New to the MotoGP paddock for 2015, Aprilia Racing Gresini and their riders Alvaro Bautista and Marco Melandri have been working hard testing both the previous version of the Aprilia prototype and the new RS-GP.
Speaking about the first two days of testing at Sepang, Albesiano said: 'The initial results of these tests are certainly positive. I won't dwell too much on the times because that's not our goal at the moment, but the sensations are encouraging.
'These two days are in line with a sporting season that we are taking on one year ahead of schedule and one that we are well aware will be focused on development and refinement of a competitive prototype.
'Considering the fact that the new RS-GP is taking its first steps, Alvaro's performance is definitely a positive sign. Even his comments on the feel of the ride are very encouraging as he did not indicate any real weakness in the project. So the new bike has plenty of room for optimisation and improvement.'
Bautista finished day two in 17th, just over two seconds off Lorenzo's pace. Melandri finished last in 28th and over 4.5s off the fastest time of the day.
'Alvaro is proving himself to be a fast rider,' said Albesiano. 'And, just as we expected, he has a positive attitude that is conducive to the work we need to do in the garage.
'Marco is continuing his apprenticeship and objectively he is struggling a bit more than we expected. But we know Marco and his approach well, so we are doing everything we can to put him at ease in this new technical situation.'
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