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MotoGP News Round-Up: Miller Stays with Ducati, Silly Season Heats Up, & Fans Back at Races Again

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Five races into the 2021 MotoGP season, and with the Covid-19 pandemic abating in some places while flaring up in others, there are the first signs of movement in motorcycle racing.

Teams, factories, and riders are starting to open (and in some cases, complete) negotiations for this year and beyond, and races are slowly starting to open up to fans.

Although for a variety of reasons, the moves have not been covered in separate stories, here is a quick round up of the latest news and speculation from around the paddock.

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MotoGP

Andrea Dovizioso Talks About Testing the Aprilia RS-GP at Jerez

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Four months after getting off the Ducati, with no contracts signed for 2021, Andrea Dovizioso is riding again.

The Italian has spent the past three days testing the Aprilia RS-GP at a private test at Jerez, sharing the track with Yamaha, KTM, and Honda, in between the sessions for the MotoE class.

On Wednesday afternoon, the final day of Dovizioso’s test with Aprilia, the Italian spoke to the media about the test, his motivation for testing the RS-GP, his plans for the immediate future, and what he thought of the test so far.

He was very cagey in his responses, not wanting to give away too much, but reading between the lines he still had plenty to say.

He did not want to enter into detail about how the bike felt, insisting that the first thing he had to do was to find the right riding position before he could be comfortable trying to push the bike to its limit.

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MotoGP

MotoGP Preview of the Qatar GP: Aerodynamics, Shapeshifters, & The Meaning of Timesheets

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The preseason is over. Preparations have been made, new parts tested, bikes, bodies, and brains readied, though not necessarily in that order. MotoGP is on the verge of starting another brand new season.

There was less to develop, test, and prepare this year, the aftermath of rules imposed during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic introducing freezes on engine development and limiting aerodynamic updates.

The four factories who did not have concessions in 2020 – Ducati, Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha – will all be forced to use the engines they homologated for their riders last year for the 2021 season.

KTM, who lost concessions thanks to a phenomenally successful season which included three victories, has been allowed to design a new engine for 2021, but must freeze it at the first race in Qatar.

Aprilia, the only remaining factory with full concessions, will be allowed to continue to develop their engine throughout 2021, and will have nine engines to last the season, instead of the seven the other factories have to try to make last the year.

In terms of aerodynamics, things are a little simpler: the riders can either use their 2020 aero package, or they can introduce one upgrade aero package at any time during the season (including at the first race).

And of course, aerodynamics packages are applied per rider, rather than per manufacturer.

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MotoGP

Andrea Dovizioso Will Test for Aprilia – Why Did He Say Yes Now?

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It might be an exaggeration to call today’s news that Andrea Dovizioso is to test the Aprilia RS-GP MotoGP bike at Jerez from April 12th to 14th a bombshell, but it certainly raised a few eyebrows.

The Italian had previously turned down the offer of a full-time ride with the Noale factory for 2021, despite Aprilia extensively courting his services. So for Aprilia to offer a test ride is no surprise. For Dovizioso to accept is certainly interesting.

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MotoGP

The 2021 Aprilia RS-GP MotoGP Race Bike, In All Its Weird Glory

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For a variety of reasons, the MotoGP team unveilings have become a dreadful boring affair in the recent years.

It used to be, that these events would be our first chance to see the new bikes from the coming season, but now these new bike revisions have become too secret to show before the racing started.

Instead, the events have become a release of new livery designs, plastered on last year’s bikes. The liveries rarely change though, and with the current rules package, the same could be said about the machinery.

That is not the case with the factory Aprilia Racing squad, however. Developing the Aprilia RS-GP at a rapid pace, we are witnessing a constantly evolving motorcycle.

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Bikes

The Aprilia Racing RS 660 Trofeo Is Ready for Racing Duty

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This bad mammer-jammer right here is coming to a race track near you…if you live in Italy, that is. It is the Aprilia Racing RS 660 Trofeo, and it is the middleweight-twin cup bike from Aprilia Racing.

Built around the Aprilia RS 660 street bike (obviously), the Trofeo version is a track-only machine from the racing department in Noale, and it means business.

Built with support from Italian brands like SC-Project, Pirelli, Brembo, and Andreani, the Aprilia Racing RS 660 Trofeo is another stepping stone in Aprilia’s racing lineup to develop young riding talent.

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MotoGP

Paddock Pass Podcast #178 – Aprilia & KTM in MotoGP

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Episode 178 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one starts our review of the 2020 MotoGP Championship season, as we take a look at the fates of the various manufacturers.

On the mics, we have Neil Morrison and our newest member to the show, Adam Wheeler (from the magazine On-Track Off-Road).

Taking the manufacturers two at a time, this episode focuses on the results of the Aprilia and KTM squads during the year.

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MotoGP

Gresini Racing Confirms Independent MotoGP Team Status for 2022

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The first step toward the 2022 MotoGP grid has taken place. With a new five-year contract period between Dorna, the manufacturers, and IRTA as representative of the teams starting in 2022, grid slots are open for application once again.

Gresini Racing, led by Fausto Gresini, is to separate from Aprilia and become an independent team once again, they announced in a press release.

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MotoGP

Aprilia Can’t Decide Between Smith or Savadori to Race in 2021, Will Decide Next Year During Testing

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The 2021 MotoGP grid is finally complete. Or complete-ish, anyway. Aprilia has finally made a decision on their second rider for 2021, and their decision is that they will decide after the winter tests at Sepang and Qatar have finished.

Both Lorenzo Savadori and Bradley Smith have been signed for 2021, to fill the roles of second contracted MotoGP rider alongside Aleix Espargaro, and MotoGP test rider.

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MotoGP

Andrea Iannone Loses Doping Appeal, And Is Banned from Motorcycle Racing for Four Years

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Andrea Iannone has lost his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against his suspension for failing a drug test.

The CAS ruled that Iannone had failed to prove that he had ingested drostanolone, the banned substance that had appeared in the urine sample taken from him after the Sepang race, as a result of eating contaminated meat. 

Both Iannone and the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) had appealed against the 18-month suspension imposed by the FIM’s International Disciplinary Court (CDI).

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MotoGP

Andrea Dovizioso Is Set to Take a Sabbatical for Next Season, And What That Means for Cal Crutchlow

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Andrea Dovizioso’s future is becoming increasingly clear, and his choices are going to have a knock on effect for the test rider market.

According to a report from Motorsport.com‘s Oriol Puigdemont, Dovizioso has decided to take a sabbatical and spend a year racing motocross, in the hope of making a return to MotoGP in 2022.

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