Marco Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez have hailed Aprilia’s new technical director Fabiano Sterlacchini following the marque’s spectacular ascent in direction of the entrance of the sector in MotoGP.
Sterlacchini joined Aprilia on the finish of the 2024 season after profitable stints at KTM and, most notably, Ducati, the place he labored intently with basic supervisor Gigi Dall’Igna.
Underneath the Italian engineer’s stewardship, Aprilia is having fun with its greatest season ever in MotoGP, successful grands prix in Britain and Australia and climbing to second place within the producers’ standings behind Ducati.
Whereas the RS-GP scored victories in each 2023 and ‘24, it has advanced into a motorbike that performs constantly throughout a variety of tracks, with Aprilia addressing long-running weaknesses reminiscent of warmth dissipation at Asian venues.
Manufacturing facility Aprilia rider Bezzecchi highlighted Sterlacchini’s intelligence, expertise and approachable character as key qualities behind the crew’s progress in 2025.
“To begin with, he’s an excellent clever individual – not simply on the motorbikes aspect, however usually, you may discuss every part and he is aware of many many issues,” stated the four-time race winner. “That is tremendous cool as a result of having a dialog outdoors of racing is tremendous good with him.
“By way of racing, his know-how is tremendous large and he has quite a lot of expertise. He’s additionally a pleasant character so he does not put you in a troublesome scenario. Once I converse generally with some [other] engineers, I really feel [I know] a bit lower than them by way of data. With Fabiano, it’s tremendous completely different, it’s superb to stick with him.
“He has quite a lot of expertise, he is tremendous calm and tremendous skilled, and I really feel excellent with him.”
Fabiano Sterlacchini, Technical director Aprilia Racing, Paolo Bonoro, Crew supervisor Aprilia Racing
Picture by: Aprilia Racing
Trackhouse rider Fernandez first raced a motorbike designed by Sterlacchini in 2022 when he stepped as much as MotoGP with Tech3 KTM. This season, Sterlacchini’s steerage helped him declare his maiden MotoGP victory on the Australian Grand Prix.
“It was a bit of bit unusual at the start as a result of I had the likelihood to work with him at KTM after I simply got here to MotoGP, however we did not actually work collectively,” Fernandez revealed.
“This yr, at the start of the season I didn’t have sufficient time to work with him due to my damage, however over the last GPs he was the individual serving to me to make the final step to reach at this sort of place.
“I’m tremendous completely happy to work with him. It is true that he’s an excellent good individual. But additionally in my case, he helped me loads, particularly within the final second after I needed to make the ultimate step.”
We would like your opinion!
What would you prefer to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
– The Motorsport.com Crew
