Roberto Colaninno, CEO of the Piaggio Group of Italy the company that owns the Aprilia brand, has confirmed their plans of returning to MotoGP with a fully sponsored factory team in 2016. Aprilia's earlier stint in the MotoGP championship was in 2004, but the project was abandoned at the end of the season for want of a decent result.
Aprilia has been present in MotoGP racing for the last two years as a supplier of engines and electronics in the ART package of the CRT class, ridden to success by top rider Aleix Espargaro.