The final day of testing at Jerez for the CRT machines saw them claim their place as fully-fledged MotoGP machines. Randy de Puniet ended the day as the fastest of the Aprilia ART machines, finishing with a best time of 1:40.3, just three tenths behind Hector Barbera on the satellite Ducati - still basically the GP Zero which was tested at Valencia, and developed over the winter - and perhaps more significantly, right around the pace the satellite bikes were setting at Jerez in 2011, at just the bike's third test. Jerez confirmed that the CRT concept can work - at least, for bikes with an Aprilia engine and electronics.
De Puniet was impressed after the three-day test, at the progress made on the bike and at the potential the bike has. The Frenchman had not expected to be running low 1:40 laps, but the improvements the Aspar team had found in the electronics and suspension settings had helped a lot. Some of the issues with rear grip had been solved, but the chatter the bike suffered with the 2012 Bridgestone tires remained. De Puniet was also pleased to be able to tag onto the back of Hector Barbera on the satellite Ducati, and get a feel for where the CRT bikes stand with respect to the factory prototypes. The Aprilia was plenty fast in the corners, De Puniet opined to MotoGP.com, but they were down on power, meaning that though it was possible to post fast lap times, overtaking any satellite bikes they encountered would be difficult. With more work on the electronics, he hoped they would be able to find more power. That, he said, was the major weakness of the bike, being down on power on the prototypes. Work to improve that would continue at Aragon in just over a week time, and with a new seat unit coming to give him a better position on the bike, De Puniet was confident of taking a few more tenths off the lap times of the bikes.