Top nine for Aprilia Racing at Le Mans in a chaotic race

May 12, 2025 Michael Le Pard News

Published May 12, 2025 by , Editor‑in‑Chief

FOUR RS-GP25 BIKES IN THE POINTS: SAVADORI NINTH, BEZZECCHI FOURTEENTH. TRACKHOUSE MOTOGP TEAM’S, FERNÁNDEZ SEVENTH AND OGURA TENTH
Aprilia Racing finished the long race on the Les Mans Bugatti Circuit with three bikes in the top ten and a total of four in the points at the end of a chaotic race, made particularly complicated by the weather conditions. Lorenzo Savadori put in a solid performance, finishing ninth, whereas Marco Bezzecchi crossed the line in fourteenth place. Trackhouse MotoGP Team’s Raúl Fernández and Ai Ogura also finished in the points, both in the top ten.

With the first start neutralized by a red flag due to the high number of riders in pit lane, at the second start, Lorenzo Savadori started with slicks – the only rider on the grid to do so. However, the increasingly hard rain forced him to pit for a bike change, switching to the rain configuration. The Italian rider skilfully handled the difficult track conditions, finishing ninth and bringing valuable points home for Aprilia Racing.

Marco Bezzecchi opted for rain tyres at the start, but then made a pit stop after one lap to switch to the bike with dry setup, since it seemed like the rain was tapering off. Nevertheless, the worsening weather conditions and the driving rain forced him to come in again after a crash, re-entering the track with rain tyres. Despite the difficulties, Bezzecchi managed to finish fourteenth, which put him in the points.

Trackhouse MotoGP Team’s Raúl Fernández had an outstanding performance, also worth a mention, finishing seventh as the first Aprilia across the line, whereas rookie rider Ai Ogura finished tenth.
It was a great race and a good result. It’s a shame about the huge drop in performance with the medium rain tyres, otherwise we would have been able to do something better, but in any case, some interesting things came out of this race. I’d like to thank all of Aprilia, the racing department, and the team, because we are all working at 100% to grow the bike. I would especially like to dedicate this good result to Fabrizio Borra, my physiotherapist who I have known since I was a kid, and who unfortunately has passed away.
This was one of those situations where anything could happen. This was my first time in these conditions with Aprilia, so I wasn’t at all sure of what to do. I usually like to put slicks on when the track is not entirely dry, but since this was my first time, I decided to stick with the rain tyres. However, the track was drying out and I stopped to put on slicks, but as soon as I did that, it started raining again. I tried to hold out, because my times weren’t that bad, but unfortunately I crashed. I picked up the bike, got back to the garage, and switched to the bike that was set up for the rain. I had the rear medium tyre on and, as soon as it came up to temp, I started doing really good laps. But then, at a certain point, it began raining harder and I lost temperature, confidence, and grip at the rear, so I started slowing down a lot.
First of all, congratulations to Johann Zarco who, in front of his home fans, accomplished an achievement that he will never forget. The race was decidedly chaotic and with good opportunities to shake things up, given the weather conditions. Good job to Lorenzo for taking a risk at the start, choosing to stay on slicks. Personally, I wasn’t entirely convinced about the new regulations with the double long lap penalty as a solution from the start, but it’s the same for everyone. Throughout the weekend, we saw great speed from Marco – unfortunately, not demonstrated by adequate results – but I’m confident that they will arrive soon. Hard work always pays off. It’s great to see two Trackhouse MotoGP Team RS-GP25 bikes in the top ten.

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