Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori finished the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix in 19th place. While number 32’s in-race pace didn’t give viewers pause for thought, his RS-GP's special livery certainly made waves. For long-established Grand Prix fans and Aprilia die-hards especially, the tri-colored paint scheme probably looks familiar.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the Noale factory obliterated the 125cc and 250cc GP categories. Over a 20-year period, Aprilia snatched 19 riders' championships and 19 constructor crowns with the likes of Max Biaggi, Loris Capirossi, and Valentino Rossi at the controls. That lightweight- and intermediate-class dominance all started with Alessandro Gramigni’s 1992 125cc Grand Prix Championship.
That year, Gramini’s RS 125 R bore a purple/white/red trico paint scheme. The style soon became iconic, with Aprilia continuing to use the color combination on both race machines and production models. The brand returned to those roots with Lorenzo Savadori’s Austrian GP bike, and it seems like a special-edition RSV4 could don the same retro livery in the near future.
With 2022 marking 30 years since Aprilia's maiden Grand Prix title, rumors of a celebratory RSV4 Trenta surfaced in July, 2022. As many hawk-eyed readers may have noticed by now, Savadori’s RS-GP doesn’t just include purple, white, and red paint sections. Between the Aprilia script and ‘a’ logos on the lower fairing, a black stripe bisects the red-painted panel. It may be hard to make out from afar, but the text within that black stripe reads ‘Trenta’.
Gallery: Aprilia RS-GP 2022 Trenta
The RS-GP's Trenta font also matches the script found on the RSV4 Trenta prototype previously pictured. With the Grand Prix heading to Italy’s Misano World Circuit on September 2-4, 2022, many believe that the RSV4 Trenta could break cover at Aprilia’s home round. Adopting the same tri-colored paint job would only make sense for the commemorative superbike, but Aprilia could add extra race-inspired bits such as a rear tire air scoop.
Sadly, we’ll have to wait a few weeks before Aprilia plays its hand, but the prospect of a new limited-edition RSV4 certainly gives us pause for thought.
