Aprilia wrap up Brno testing

Aprilia Racing have wrapped up two days of testing at Brno, the Italian manufacturer team's designated SBK test track. Conditions were generally good although the rain fell on the afternoon of the final day, cutting short the session by a couple of hours. The team tested numerous components on the RSV4 in view of the upcoming Brno round and the second part of the season.

Despite a hairline crack in his right foot, Max Biaggi completed a total of 122 laps in the two days, the Italian getting down to a time of 2'00"75.

"It's a pity about the rain because it meant that we missed the last two hours," declared Biaggi, "and we could have done some more work. However we did get positive feedback, especially regarding the front suspension. I'm quite confident for the race at Brno at the end of the month, we've got another twenty days to work on the bike, this for us has more or less been the first real test since the start of the championship".

Shinya Nakano did 135 laps, including 16 in the wet, and was a shade slower than Max, with a time of 2'00"78 set on the first day. The Japanese rider also had a crash from which he emerged unscathed.

"I am very satisfied," said Nakano. "We tested a lot of engine and chassis components, and found improvements. The fact that we were there on our own allowed us to do a great job and really focus on the work. It will be interesting to test the new solutions at Imola against our main competitors".

"For sure it was a positive test," declared Luigi Dall'Igna, Aprilia Racing Technical Director. "We tested a lot of electronic, suspension and chassis components on the RSV4. We'll be using them again at the Pirelli tests at Imola in a fortnight's time, and if they continue to give a good response we'll use them for the Brno race".

WSBK Donington: Podium and Crashes for Aprilia

Max Biaggi started off well and was right behind the poleman Spies at the first curve, followed by Haga in third place. The three drivers had that something extra over their adversaries and they broke away from the pack, maintaining a pace that was just under the record set at the Bayliss track in 2007. After four laps, Haga began to lose ground and about halfway through the race he was losing one second per lap with respect to the pacesetters.

Spies continued to push ahead at a maniacal pace, but Biaggi didn’t budge at all, and recovered what he had lost on the final and slowest part of the track during the second part of the race, which was much more technical and had a faster pace. The two continued that way until Biaggi’s motorcycle suddenly died out at the last chicane due to a problem with the gas pump.

Fortunately, Max was able to restart his RSV4 and thanks to a lead of more than nine seconds on Haga, he still managed to finish the race in second place. The Roman driver and Noale’s four-stroke V cylinder motorcycle returned to the podium following the two third place finishes that were secured in Qatar, and a parenthesis surrounding the much discussed penalty in Race 1 at Monza.

Shinya Nakano finished in sixth place, at 21:286 behind Spies. The Japanese driver, who started off from fourth place, lost some ground at the beginning and fell behind the lead group. After recovering some ground thanks to a good rhythm, Shinya found himself battling Haslam and Byrne for fourth position. It was only during the final two laps that he lost a bit of ground against the two English drivers who were racing on their home turf.

Race 2 didn't went so well. During the second lap Nakano ran into in a frightening high side that fortunately didn’t result in any injuries. During the fourth lap Biaggi lost his front tyre at the first curve and slipped to the ground, but quickly got back on his bike and returned to the race. Upon re-entry, Max came into contact with one of his adversaries along the outer kerb and slipped back to twentieth place. During the crash, the Roman pilot ended up with a bruise and a minor injury to the third metatarsal of his right foot, but he still managed to finish the race in twentieth place. The degree of his injuries will not prevent Max from participating in the Aprilia’s private test run on the Brno track that is scheduled for July 1st and 2nd.

Read more

RSV4 under the fairings

The guys at superbikeplanet posted some great pics of the RSV4 WSBK under the fairings. Go check them out here

Fourth place for KWS Aprilia at Barber Motorsports park

The Factory Aprilia Millennium Technologies scored it’s best finishes of the year in Sunday’s Daytona SportBike race with a sixth place result from Ben Thompson and a fourth place finish from Chaz Davies, only .027 of a second off the podium.

Read more

Motorcycleusa reviews AMA Daytone Sportbikes competitors

Motorcycleusa tested three bikes that compete in the AMA Daytona Sportbike Championship. THe Buell 1125R, Aprilia RSV1000R and Kawasaki ZX-6R. There has been some contreversy about the rules in the series. Racing a 1125cc V-Twin against a 600cc inline four doesn't make a lot of sense. Or does it make sense? The guys at Motorcycleusa tested the bikes on the track to find out.

Read the review here and check out the video here

MCN tests the RSV4 on the road

Biaggi finishes strongly in Monza

Monza is synonymous with excitement, not only on the track, but also in the stands and more than 118,000 people rushed to the historic Autodrome throughout the weekend to witness two amazing races.

Race 1 was almost unbelievable both for how it evolved and its incredible final. Spies took off like a rocket with Fabrizio, Haga, Biaggi and Kagayama right behind him but the Yamaha and the Ducati broke away after five laps at a pace that was just under this little track’s record from last year. The three drivers battled it out for first place up to the very end, and Spies seemed to be in the best position up until the entry to the last curve, the legendary Parabolica, when his R1 ran out of gas and died. So, Fabrizio took the victory, just ahead of this teammate Haga, while Biaggi conquered third place, followed by Kiyonari who had moved up from the rear. However, when he climbed atop the podium, the loudspeaker announced a 20 second penalty for the Roman driver because of a suspected, yet highly debatable cut at the second chicane in the seventh lap. So Kiyonari took Biaggi’s place on the podium and Max dropped down to eleventh position. Nakano finished in thirteenth place after a decent recovery.

Instead, Spies made no mistakes in Race 2. He started off strong and broke away from everyone else, holding on to a five second margin halfway into the race up until he reached the chequered flag. Behind him there was a battle for the podium among Fabrizio, Kiyonari and Rea and Biaggi also got back in to the groove in the fifth lap after a bad start. However, at the tenth lap, the Roman driver made an error at the first chicane and lost contact with the group. He tried to recover, but ended up in fifth position in Rea’s wake. Michel Fabrizio stepped onto the second level of the podium after beating out Kiyonari in a gruelling battle. It was a twelfth place finish for Nakano, who had a good race and drastically improved his time.

Full report

Biaggi 7th in WSBK Monza Superpole

Max Biaggi qualified 7th in today's WSBK superpole at the famous Monza track in Italy. Nakano didn't do that good with a 17th place.

Full results

MCN RSV4 Launch report