Last year's Aragon MotoGP marked a new high for the Aprilia RS-GP project, with Aleix Espargaro matching the machine's best finish of sixth, at a closest ever 6.962s from vict♓ory.

That kind of result looks hard to replicate in this weekend's 2018 return, with Aprilia yet to match the results of last year (best result of ninth) a🅺nd also struggling for reliability.

But if there is any circuit where Espargaro can turn things around, Aragon - in front of his home✤ fans - mi🍸ght be it.

"Last year I was very competitive in Aragón," confirmed Espargaro. "Repeating that performance will not be easy. The championship level has gone up incredibl🍒y and we need to continue working non-stop to close the gap behind the leaders."

The Spaniard🎃, who had a new crew chief for🔴 Misano, remained at the circuit for private post-race testing after a 14th place in the grand prix.

"The Misano tes✱ts were truly important. I hope to take another step forward and to be able to battl💖e consistently in the top ten," Espargaro said.

Team-mate Scott Redding is approaching Aragon with a 'realistic' aim; returning to the points for the first time since July's G🌼erman Grand Prix.

"Aragon is not a simple circ🔥uit to tackle, but I like it. A🥀fter the Misano test, I think I'll be able to recover a bit of competitiveness.

"We need to have realistic goals: work🐽ing well to prepare for the race, making the right choices and battling in the points zone."

The Englishman is sti📖ll to confirm his 2019 plans, but is understood to have a BSB offer on 🎐the table from PBM.

Despite a tough season, Aprilia 🔜is 12 points from KTM in the fight to avoid last place💜 in the constructors' championship.