Only a crash on the first corner during the eighth lap kept Aleix Espargaró from battling for important positions in the GP of Australia. The Spanish rider had both the pace and the confidence to contend in the leading group. Well supported by an Aprilia RS-GP, he was once again solidly at the level of the best.

Aleix paid a high price for a slightly wide trajectory on the fast first corner as he was overtaking Miller for fifth place. The high speed slide resulted in a fracture to the fourth metacarpus of his left hand, an injury that shouldn't keep the Spanish rider from participating in the Malaysian weekend that is just days away.

Sam Lowes finished nineteenth after a shrewd race, overtaking Parkes, Petrucci and Barbera.

ALEIX ESPARGARO'
"The race was going well. Despite a less than perfect start, I had already rejoined the leading group and I had a good feeling. Unfortunately, as I was overtaking Miller on the first turn, I went a bit too wide, ending up on the dirty part of the track and sliding out. I should be able to participate in the race in Malaysia even with the injury to my hand. We'll see what the conditions are on Friday."

SAM LOWES
"Obviously you always hope for a better result but, given the conditions, I'm rather satisfied. I overtook a few riders in the race and I didn't make any mistakes throughout the weekend. We are working well. Unfortunately, Aleix wasn't able to demonstrate the full potential of the RS-GP today because of the crash, but we are on the right path."

ROMANO ALBESIANO - APRILIA RACING MANAGER
"This was a peculiar weekend where we once again demonstrated how competitive our bike is and how Aleix is able to take advantage of it. The race began in the best possible way. Despite a less than perfect start that we need to work on, he recovered with impressive speed. Unfortunately, the crash stopped him in a race where anything could have been possible, but the responses from this track give us great optimism both for the upcoming races and for 2018."

FAUSTO GRESINI - TEAM MANAGER
"Except for the race result itself, this was another good weekend. More proof that we are competitive, very close to the best in the category. Unfortunately, we are leaving Phillip Island today with a bitter taste in our mouths, knowing that we have a great bike and a very fast rider. Aleix paid a high price for a small mistake, but that is racing."

The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team did not enjoy an easy day at the office as the opening race of the penultimate round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship was contested today at ‘Circuito de Jerez’. Davide Giugliano was forced to a late retirement with two laps to go, while Takahashi was 16^th at the end of the reduced 19-lap Spanish encounter.

The initial race was red flagged on the opening lap due to the crashes occurred to Italy’s Badovini and De Rosa at turn six. As the new 19-lap encounter got underway, Giugliano maintained his position while trying to get up to speed on board his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2. The 27-year-old Italian was unable to keep a consistent pace throughout the race and eventually had to make his way back to the pits as the WorldSBK field entered the penultimate lap.

Takahashi’s performance was affected in the initial stages of the race after the Japanese rider crashed unhurt at turn 13 on lap four. He eventually managed to get back on the bike and continue the race to gain some more experience in the series.

Race two will get underway tomorrow at 13:00 local time (GMT +2) after the traditional 15-minute warm up scheduled at 9:30.

As MCN’s Manufacturer of the Year for the 2^nd year running, this award is testament to our range of bikes and the passion and expertise our engineers put into delivering #WinningDNA.

Our new Street Triple RS has won both the Overall Machine of the Year and the Best Naked awards, and our Bonneville Bobber the Best Cruiser/Custom.

WEATHER PERMITTING, GOOD POTENTIAL FOR APRILIA AND THE SPANISH RIDER

After leading the Friday sessions and proving to be fast in FP4 in race setup, the Espargaró-Aprilia duo took on qualifying setting their sights on the first two rows. The result eluded them only because of traffic on the track that Aleix ran into on all of his flying laps. In spite of it all, the Spanish rider rode his RS-GP to the third row with an eighth place time (1'29.271).

In any case, Aleix can count on the good feedback from the fourth session, the one that most reflects the race situation. In addition to his fourth best time, just a shout from the leaders, Espargaró turned a series of fast laps, showing a rather consistent pace. Unless there is a change in the weather, something that is anything but improbable on this track, a top 5 finish seems to be a goal well within reach for the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini.

Sam Lowes had a bit of difficulty in qualifying, struggling to maintain the optimum range of use for the tyres due to the low temperatures. With just a few available laps, the English rookie had to settle for the eighth row.


ALEIX ESPARGARO'
"I expected more from qualifying after the potential we showed in the other sessions. Unfortunately, I was never able to get in a clean lap because of traffic. There were a few slow riders in front of me and to be honest, I am not able to ride to the limit in these conditions. In any case, we showed that we have a good pace, especially in FP4, which is the session that best reflects our situation for the race. The third row in such a long and demanding race is not a big limit. A few of the riders in front of us don't seem to have a particularly competitive race pace, so fighting for the top 5 is a realistic goal."

SAM LOWES
"I am rather satisfied with our work, although compared to yesterday I had more difficulty maintaining tyre temperature. It was a condition that was quite clear in qualifying, where it is hard to get the tyres into the right temperature range because of the little time available. It's a vicious cycle: you're not able to push because you don't have the right feeling, but you should do just that to warm up the tyres and get them to work right. In the race things are different. We showed that we have a good pace and, as always, my Aprilia is able to manage wear over race distance well."

Advance booking for the FREE Experience Adventure bike skills feature at Motorcycle Live 2017 is now open! Click here to reserve your slot to ride one of the stunning adventure machines on offer from Honda, KTM and Triumph on the terrain for which they were made.

The Classic Feature supported by the National Motorcycle Museum returns with an adventure and off-road machinery theme and a showcase of its vast inventory of scramblers, trials bikes and speedway racers, as well as early examples of adventure road models. 

Non-stop entertainment will be provided courtesy of the Eurosport Entertainment Zone featuring the Black Horse Stage, where visitors can enjoy quizzes and game shows with loads of prizes to be won from KTM, Dunlop, Arenacross & Dunlop - plus daily Q&As with racing stars – all hosted with the usual witty banter.

For newcomers to the world of biking, the industry’s Get On initiative will be offering FREE Two Wheel Taster sessions in a safe, private, indoor space with expert tuition from qualified instructors on a range of motorcycles and scooters from the leading manufacturers. 

Advance tickets for Motorcycle Live are on sale now! Prices have been frozen at 2016 rates and the tickets remain all-inclusive, so every single live feature, event and experience at the show is absolutely FREE to enjoy. Advance buyers also benefit from significant savings in comparison to the on-the-door price and they can win one of hundreds of prizes in our Golden Ticket promotion... what are you waiting for?!*