Aprilia admit they are keeping an eye on one specific Ducati rider

Enea Bastianini has been identified as a rider that Aprilia are keeping tabs on.

The MotoGP silly season could become one of the craziest in recent memory, with all-but-two riders entering the final months of their current contracts.

It means that riders and manufacturers will be jockeying for position to end up with the best possible deal for 2025 and beyond, with key riders like Marc Marquez and Fabio Quartararo likely to cause a knock-on effect across the grid.

Bastianini, after an injury-ravaged year, faces a scrap to keep his factory Ducati seat yet he could also attract admiring glances from elsewhere.

“I think everyone knows that Enea is one of the riders that I like,” Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola told GPOne.

“Carlo Pernat, his manager, knows well that it is also thanks to me that he achieved certain results in the negotiation with Ducati.

“An Italian rider would certainly be useful to us, whether it be Enea or another it is too early to say.”

Bastianini went fastest on Day 2 of the preseason Sepang test.

Aprilia will keep veteran pair Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales this year.

Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez will form the newly-rebranded Trackhouse team.

“Maybe we will reconfirm our two riders,” Rivola admitted.

“Winning with Italian riders and Italian bikes offers a great sounding board.

“Having said that, I am very happy with the two, or rather the four, riders that we have.

“The first three months will be really wild for the rider market but we will face it in a calm way.”

Aprilia’s Vinales was fastest in the postseason Valencia test in an early boost for the Italy-based manufacturer.