Aprilia sticks with Savadori as test and wild-card rider

The Italian, currently competing in his third wild-card of the season, at the Red Bull Ring this weekend, has worked with Aprilia since winning the FIM Superstock title on an RSV4 in 2015.

After racing for the factory in WorldSBK, Savadori joined Aprilia MotoGP project in 2019 and made his race debut at the end of 2020.

The 30-year-old competing in the opening ten rounds of the following season, before his full time race seat was handed to new arrival Maverick Vinales.

Savadori has returned to the role of test and wild-card rider ever since, including a stand in appearance for the new RNF satellite team at Le Mans.

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"Aprilia Racing is now a second family for me: we have been together since 2015 and I am very happy to continue this wonderful collaboration,” said Savadori.

“The work I'm doing together with all the guys in the Test Team makes me happy and it's a source of pride for me to contribute to taking Aprilias to the top of MotoGP, as happened at Silverstone, where there were three RS-GP bikes fighting for the win.

“Today's MotoGP is hyper-competitive and you have to try to go further in the development of every little detail and that is also why the job of the Test Rider has become more and more crucial.”

While ‘grateful’ for the new test deal, Savadori admitted his dream is still to secure a full-time race seat.

“I am grateful to Aprilia for the trust they put in me for such a delicate role, although clearly every rider's dream is still to return to full-time racing, to be able to show their potential,” he said.

Aprilia brought a new fairing and swingarm to the recent Silverstone round, while Savadori has also been testing a new carbon fibre frame.