Despite winning 19 riders’ titles in the 125cc and 250cc grand prix classesꦅ, Aprilia was never able to crack the premier 500cc class.

The factory’s premier-class struggles continued after the switch to four-stroke ‘MotoGP’ machines in 2002, when Aprilia built its RS ‘Cube’ three-cylinder, fe🔯aturing F1 technology - including pneumatic valves - from Cosworth.

The bike delivered perhaps the most horsepower on the grid but sometimes seemed to have a mind of its own due to heavy reliance on experimental tracti♓on control and ride-by-wire electronics (no phy🐻sical connection between the twist grip and engine) to try and tame the power delivery.

There were also ‘reliability’ issues. The most spectacular of w✤hich saw Co🐈lin Edwards forced to bail off at 120mph when the fuel cap fell off at Sachsenring, spraying rider and machine with fuel, which then ignited.

The RS Cube, which was also ridden by the likes of Regis Laconi (2002), Noriyuki Haga (2003), Jeremy McWilliams (2004) and Shane Byrne (2004), disappeared from𝔍 MotoGP at the end of 2004 having never bettered the sixth place by Edwards on his MotoGP debut at Suzuka 2003.

Aprilia rebounded in WorldSBK with the RSV4 Superbike, which won the world championship with Max Biaggi in 2010 and ♈2012,✃ then Sylvain Guintoli in 2014.

With MotoGP having returned to a 1,000cc engine ꧅size for 2012, and the entry of modified ꧟Superbikes now encouraged under the CRT rules, Aprilia made a low-key return to the grand prix paddock by supplying ‘customer’ bikes.

Despite losing its racing boss Gigi Dall’Igna to Ducati, Aprilia - now under the design guidance of Romano Albesiano - upped its MotoGP involvement and, tempted by measures such as the single ECU,꧒ was ready to make an official MotoGP return for 2015.

The rest𝄹riction on grid places, and perhaps Dorna’s memory of Aprilia’s brief RS Cube adventure, meant the factory had to join forces with an existing team.

A deal was agreed with Italian outfit Gresini, title runner-up with Honda machinery in the early MotoGP years but now struggling financially, with the project a full factory entry in all but official status♍.

The early years of the renamed and revamped RS-GP project prov꧟ed difficult, with the team barely breaking into the top ten and haunt♒ed by technical issues.

A key turning point was the signing of ex-F1 manager Massimo Rivola for the new title of Aprilia Racing CEO at the start of 2019. That allowed Albesiano to fully focus on the technical side 🌊and, crucially, exploit his knowledge of aerodynamics.

Success didn’t happen overnight, and Aprilia’s situat💛ion was summed up when a trio of Moto2 riders - Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio di Giannantonio and Joe Roberts – all turned down the chance of a factory contract to ride alongside Espargaro for 2021.

Espargaro perhaps made them regret that choice by taking the RS-🍬GP’s first podium at Silverstone, the race before nine-time MotoGP race winner Maverick Vinales took over from Lorenzo Savadori as his team-mate, following a shock mid-season split from Yamaha.

Espargaro had joined Aprilia from Suzuki in 2017 and took on the rol🐼e of ‘captain’ by being their leading rider in the world championship thereafter, outperforming the likes of Scott Redding (2018), Andrea Iannone (2019) and Br𒉰adley Smith (2020).

Aprilia split from Gresini and was granted its own grid places for 2022, when Espargaro was rewarded for his loyalty and perseverance with his and the RS-GP’s first MotoGP victory, in Argentina. The early win proved a springboard to a title challenge, being later followed by four rostrꦑums in a row.

But a foot injury at Silverstone kicked off a tough second half. The RS-GP again struggled in the flyaway rounds, not helped by a technical issue on the grid in Japan, but Espargaro remained a mathematical title c𒊎ontender until the penu𝓀ltimate round.

A cruel technical problem in the Valencia finale robbed Espargaro of third in💜 the world championship and Aprilia second in the construct🐟ors’. Vinales took three podiums on his way to eleventh.

Aprilia’s success saw the loss o𓆏f technical concessions for 2023 but team and riders began the seasꦕon with high hopes of building on the previous year’s success.

While Aprilia largely avoided the post-concessions slump of Suzuki and KTM, the expectations of instantly stepping up and fighting Ducati for victories - in a marathon season of 20 rounds𒊎, plus the new Saturday Sprint races - created too much pressure.

Although Vinales began the season in style with second in Portimao, Aprilia didn’t take another podium until Espargaro broke his 2023 duck just before the summer brea𒈔k at Assen.

But Espargaro began the second half in perfect style with a last-lap victory over reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia at Silverston🍎e, then led a dream Aprilia one-two in his home Catalunya round.

However, he wouldn’t be seen on the podium again as Aprilia’s flyaway woes re𝓡turned, including the RS-GP cooking its🎐 riders to the point of retirement in the hotter events.

Vinales added a third runner-up finish in Indonesia and got within two pointsꦍ of snatching sixth from Espargaro, who rode the Valencia finale with a leg fracture after being hit in a friendly fire incident with RNF’s Miguel Oliveira in Qatar.

2024 was the♋ third full season featuring Espargaro and Vinales in the🌜 factory Aprilia line-up.

Aprilia was the only manufacturer to defeat Ducati,꧂ courtesy of a perfect weekend for Vinales in COTA. However, a frustrated Vinales (who also took two early Sprint wins) eventually dropped down to seventh in the world championship. Aprilia🍌 was likewise beaten by both Ducati and KTM in the constructors’ standings.

The team’s bittersweet fortunes continued off-track, where Aprilia were delighted to sign eventual world champion Jorge Martin but lost not only the retiring Aleix Espargaro (who took an emotional Sprint win at home in Catalunya) and Vina✃les (to Tech3 KTM) but also technical director Romano Albesiano (to Honda).

Long time Ducati en𒅌gineer Fabiano Sterlacchini, who split from KTM earlier in the year, will take over from Albesiano.