Aprilia “100 percent” needs to beat KTM next year

Moto2 frontrunner Lowes makes the step up to the premier class next year, joining Suzuki convert Aleix Espargaro at the Gresini-run Aprilia squad on a two-year deal.

Aprilia’s current race riders Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl have endured a difficult campaign on the RS-GP machine, with Bradl’s seventh-place finish in Argentina remaining the marque’s best result of 2016.

And while the duo have posted improved results since the nadir of their campaign in Austria – where both were blasted by Aprilia management for jumping the start – Lowes is aware that nothing less than regular top 10s will be considered good enough.

“I think the bike is at a good level now,” he told Motorsport.com. “Next year there are 23 bikes on the grid, so the first job is to be always in the top 15 in qualifying.

“Then pushing for top 10s [in the races] has got to be the goal.

“I think the bike will improve a lot. I’ve only done a few tests and the bike and I’m already at the same level as [Bautista and Bradl], so I feel like the level of the bike is quite good already.

Asked what he thought Aprilia’s expectations would be in its third year back in MotoGP, he added: “I think they’re expecting top 10, and I think that’s realistic – maybe by the end of the year more.

“But when you’re putting in that much money and effort, you need to expect that. It’s not good to see your bikes near the back and I can appreciate that.”

Austria test not a fair reflection of KTM strength

KTM’s relatively strong testing form in the run-up to its graduation to the premier class grid next season has led to some observers predicting the squad can beat Aprilia in its first year.

But Lowes dismissed the prospect of KTM immediately being ahead of Aprilia in 2017, citing evidence from a joint test conducted at Misano in August that shows the new manufacturer remains a way behind.

“[KTM] came to the Austrian test, and bang – they’re on it,” he said. “And everyone thought ‘f**k, that’s good.’

“But if you look how much they improved from the first day to the second, [it was] not a lot. They didn’t improve that much.

“They had three days [at Misano], we had two and we were quite a lot quicker than them. I think they’ll be there, but we should beat them.”

Lowes added he doesn’t think that KTM’s chosen race riders, Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro, will be significantly quicker than Mika Kallio, who has conducted the bulk of the Austrian manufacturer’s testing so far and will race the RC16 as a wild-card at Valencia.

“I think Kallio is riding the bike quite well,” he said. “Everyone thinks Bradley and Pol will be a second faster, but I’m not so sure.

“The KTM will be solid, but we need to be in front of them, 100 percent.”