Category: Superbikes

1. APRILIA'S SECOND MOTOGP SEASON KICKS OFF AT DOHA

   Posted on 2:00pm Wednesday 2nd Mar 2016

   Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl on the track astride the new 2016 Aprilia RS-GP
   
   Roberto Colaninno: "Aprilia Racing is the most advanced technological experimentation and development platform for the entire Piaggio Group and all of our products and brands benefit from it"
   
   Romano Albesiano: "The new bike reflects recent Aprilia Racing tradition, reinterpreting every concept without compromise, and it is the most ambitious project our racing department has ever undertaken"
   
   Doha (Qatar), 2 March 2016 – The new 2016 Aprilia RS-GP débuts at Losail. From 2 to 4 March the Italian V4 will be on the track for the first time in an official event, the final IRTA tests before the start of the 2016 Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing season.

   This will kick off the 2016 MotoGP season for Aprilia Racing. For the Italian team this is a fundamental step in the project that began in 2015, since the new Aprilia RS-GP is not an evolution of the previous model but an entirely redesigned prototype based on the knowledge gained during the season last year, characterised by experimentation and data acquisition. The new bike is already a milestone in the young and victorious Aprilia racing history: in fact, it is the first true MotoGP bike, entirely designed, developed and built by Aprilia in its every component, beginning with the engine, a unit characterised by its exclusive narrow V4 architecture, the same one that distinguishes the entire supersport line from Noale.

   Roberto Colaninno, CEO and Managing Director of the Piaggio Group, had this to say about the new challenge: "From a Group strategy point of view, Aprilia Racing is not just the Aprilia racing team: it is the most advanced technological experimentation and development platform for the entire Piaggio Group from which all of our products and brands benefit. For this reason, from this 2016 season the Piaggio Group logo stands out prominently on the bikes' livery. In fact, the technology developed for racing operations is not intended only for racing, but it also serves the purpose of testing innovative solutions that will then be applied to road-legal products, from supersport bikes all the way to scooters, with the end goal of improving our products in terms of performance, safety and the ability to provide our customers with riding pleasure and fun".

   "On the competition level, how can I not remind you of the important results we've achieved so far?" continued Roberto Colaninno. "With our own motorcycle brands, the Group has won 32 out of the 104 world championships ever won in its history in just twelve years. An amazing 28 of these titles were won in one decade by Aprilia, even with riders of the calibre of Max Biaggi and Jorge Lorenzo. The others went to the Gilera brands – with the never-forgotten Marco Simoncelli – and to Derbi, which, among other things, christened an extraordinary champion like Marc Marquez. I would like to wish Albesiano and his team, the riders Bautista and Bradl, and the entire Aprilia Racing staff all the best and a season that will give them and all of the Piaggio Group reasons to be satisfied."

   With 104 World Championships in its collection (54 Aprilia, 15 Moto Guzzi, 21 Derbi, 14 Gilera) the Piaggio Group is the most victorious motorcycle group of all times.
   Aprilia, born into racing, is the true sports standard-bearer for the Piaggio Group.

   With 294 Grand Prix races won in World Championship GP Motorcycle Racing, Aprilia holds the record for the most wins of any European manufacturer in the history of top motorcycle competition. These race wins are joined by 54 world titles: 38 in the World Motorcycle Championship (20 in the 125 class and 18 in the 250 class), 7 in Superbike (double Rider/Manufacturer title in 2010, 2012 and 2014, Manufacturer in 2013) and 9 in the Off Road disciplines (7 in Supermoto and 2 in Trial). The Aprilia trophy case also includes last year's victory in the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup with the RSV4 RF ridden on the track by Savadori.

   Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl made a fundamental contribution to the development of the new project as they conducted the 2015 "laboratory-season" on the track. Alvaro and Stefan had the chance to familiarise themselves with the 2016 RS-GP during the previous private tests on the Losail circuit, immediately recognising its great potential. The brand new technical package, which is joined by the new tyre supplier and the controlled electronics package, requires an obvious fine-tuning phase before we can arrive at a good level, but the feelings we got during the first two tests make us solidly optimistic about the new season.

   “The upcoming season will be a very important one for us", said Aprilia Racing Manager, Romano Albesiano. "The new bike reflects recent Aprilia Racing tradition, reinterpreting every concept without compromise, and it is the most ambitious project our racing department has ever undertaken. The first responses from testing have been positive. We received very positive feedback from both riders specifically from a dynamics point of view. In any case, this is the beginning of a long path and we are well aware of the inevitable difficulties that come along with any new project."

   Albesiano had this to say about the riders, Bautista and Bradl, both confirmed for the 2016 season: "We can count on the contribution of an expert team and two highly motivated riders like Alvaro and Stefan, who immediately realised the importance of our development plan and the great efforts put forth by the racing department. I believe that, after the initial fine-tuning phase, we'll be able to set our sights on respectable results."

   For Bautista (riding the number 19 bike) this is his second full year astride the prototypes from Noale. "This season will be a new challenge, my second year with Aprilia", said Alvaro. We'll be able to rely on our experience from 2015. We aren't starting from zero, but in any case we'll have to develop a completely new bike. I think that Aprilia has very clear ideas about what they can expect this season. In any case, it will be a big challenge because we'll have to work hard on race weekends since we have done very little testing. We'll need to be good at streamlining things. To be honest, it would be nice to be competitive around the mid-season mark. It's difficult to predict now because there are so many things that need to be sorted, but I'm confident because during the winter break Aprilia did a great job with the data gathered in 2015. I'm pumped up and I want to have a good season, getting back into the battle for top positions, but I am under no illusions. With patience, hard work and sacrifice we can do it."

   Stefan Bradl, riding the number 6 bike, echoed the sentiment: "The first contact with the new bike was definitely positive, despite the fact that it's still too early to take a position. The Aprilia Racing techs did a great job in the right direction. Now our job will be to explore the potential of the RS-GP lap after lap. We really have a lot on our plate, but we also have a wide margin for improvement. Along with the new bike, we also have the new electronics and tyres, aspects that we had already begun working on but that still require a lot of development. We won't be bored, that much is certain. For the first time in my career I'm working on an official team with the job of developing a new project. I think that this is the greatest condition possible for a rider who wants to set his sights on staying out front."

   2016 will be Gresini Racing's twentieth Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing season: a history that includes two world titles (with Daijiro Kato in 250 in 2001 and Toni Elias in Moto2 in 2010), 42 wins in GP and MotoGP runner-up World Champion titles in three consecutive seasons, from 2003 to 2005. “In recent months, Aprilia Racing staff at Noale and everyone on the Gresini Racing team have put forth an incredible effort on the technical and organisational front", said Team Manager, Fausto Gresini. "We never stopped. We have a great desire to demonstrate our full potential and we are highly motivated as we approach the first Grand Prix. The Aprilia Racing technicians have taken advantage of the experience gained last year and all their precious know-how to create a prototype ready to battle in a MotoGP season that promises to be even more heated and exciting."

2. SAG TUBI and Gresini Racing: a successful partnership renewed for 2016

   Posted on 4:00pm Wednesday 24th Feb 2016

   The agreement, which follows on from a long-time partnership, which began in 2011 and grown strong over the years, will see the Italian Group, leader in Europe in the field of tube manipulation and its components, supporting the activities of the team in the MotoGP and Moto3 World Championships.
   
   The new logo of SAG TUBI, which recently renovated its corporate identity, will be featured on the leather suits of the two Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders, Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl, and on the bikes of the Gresini Racing Team Moto3, ridden by Enea Bastianini and Fabio Di Giannantonio, as well as on the team equipments.
   
   Making use of highly qualified personnel and advanced equipment, and thanks to over 40 years of experience, SAG TUBI is today capable to produce any kind of rigid tube or flexible hose combination for any application. High quality competitive products, accompanied by an extraordinary service, which led SAG TUBI to become a partner of the most important manufacturers of engines, agricultural machinery, earthmoving equipment, forklifts, passenger and freight transport.
   
   WALTER ZINI (CEO SAG Group)
   “In 2016 we will be on track with Gresini Racing for the sixth consecutive year: we are approaching a very interesting season, with the debut of a completely new Aprilia prototype in MotoGP and an all-Italian rider line-up in Moto3, that for sure will give us a lot of satisfactions. Since 2011 we have been sharing with Fausto Gresini’s team a great passion for motorcycling, but that’s not all: Gresini Racing, exactly like our group of companies, is an Italian company with a strong international vocation, always ready to take on new challenges. Now we just have to wait for the start of the season to live many more good times together with the whole team!”.
   
   FAUSTO GRESINI
   “SAG TUBI has now become a nice constant with regard to our major racing programs: during the 2015 season Walter Zini, a big fan of the sport who I personally thank, has followed closely and with great enthusiasm our new partnership with Aprilia in MotoGP and together we collected a lot of satisfactory results in the smaller displacement, the Moto3 class, where Enea Bastianini was able to fight for the World Title, giving us the great victory at Misano. 2016 promises to be even more interesting: the upcoming season will see the debut of the new Aprilia prototype in MotoGP, while in Moto3 we have all it takes to be protagonists. We hope therefore to be able to achieve great results together with SAG TUBI!”.

3. APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI - Qatar Test

   Posted on 5:00pm Tuesday 23rd Feb 2016

   Losail (Qatar), 23 February 2016 - The first true tests of the Aprilia MotoGP project have just been concluded. In fact, the three days of testing had the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini hard at work on the new RS-GP, the prototype developed entirely at Noale that will be used in the upcoming 2016 season.
   
   Despite the extremely recent debut of a completely new project, the Aprilia garage is highly optimistic. Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl began working on development straight away, immediately noticing promising room for improvement in the new prototype. There really isn't one single area where efforts were focused: the new RS-GP has nothing in common with previous Aprilia projects except for know-how. It is a completely new MotoGP bike in every component without exception, developed based on the data gathered during the 2015 season with last year's laboratory bikes.
   
   The Aprilia RS-GP machines will be back on the track in Qatar just a few days from now for the official IRTA tests that precede the first race of the season.
   
   ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
   "After the Aragon shakedown with the test riders, Alvaro and Stefan began to get to know the new Aprilia RS-GP here in Qatar. These were three very intense and positive days of work. We are bringing home a lot of information and some growing pain problems we need to solve, but above all we are leaving with confirmation that the new bike's dynamic performance is significantly better than the 2015 bike. We have an important development path ahead of us that will be necessarily accelerated, but we are confident that this will be a season of growth toward a decidedly interesting level."
   
   FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
   "Hearing the positive comments from our riders after the first kilometers ridden astride a completely new bike was exciting. The RS-GP seems to have gotten off on the right foot. Alvaro and Stefan noticed a clear improvement in dynamic performance compared to the 2015 bike. Now we have a big development schedule ahead of us but we know we are starting from an extremely solid base.”
   
   ALVARO BAUTISTA
   "In these three days we explored the new bike, doing a lot of work with short sessions since this was the first real test with the 2016 RS-GP. Obviously we are not at 100% but we have a very good starting point. I think that we are already at a similar level as the end of 2015 with the difference being that we are just at the beginning. There is a lot of room for development whereas with the old bike we were at the limit. We still need to work on a lot of things but I'm pleased with the work Aprilia has done. In the next tests I hope to be able to lay the foundation for the new season.”
   
   STEFAN BRADL
   "This test was really important as it was the first contact with the new bike. First impressions are good. I see a clear difference compared to the old bike and we are moving in the right direction. At the moment I have a good feeling despite the fact that we have a long way to go before we'll be able to say that we're satisfied. That was to be expected at the beginning. This is a completely new and decidedly demanding project, but we can truly say that we are off on the right foot.”

4. RAIN SLOWS PLANS FOR APRILIA AT SEPANG

   Posted on 10:00am Thursday 4th Feb 2016

   DESPITE THE STOP BAUTISTA AND BRADL COMPLETE THE SCHEDULED WORK ON THE THIRD DAY OF TESTING

   Sepang also had the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders only taking partial advantage of the eight hours available. This was due to the rain showers in the morning, not hard enough to justify using rain tyres but enough to force Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl to come into the garage.

   Back on the track just after 4 in the afternoon, Alvaro and Stefan continued the scheduled tests with their usual professionalism until the red light came on, focusing specifically on developing the new controlled electronics package. At the end of the tests both riders pointed out the progress achieved both in terms of the new tyres and the electronics package, confirming the latter as the area with most room for improvement where efforts need to be concentrated between now and the first race in Qatar.

   Over the three days Bautista put in 132 laps with a best time of 2'02,876. 128 laps with a best time of 2'02.372 for Stefan Bradl.
   
   ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
   "Here at Sepang we worked on two fronts, the new electronics and the Michelin tyres. I'm rather satisfied with the progress the tyres show, especially the front which provides the riders with a good feeling and lets them push with confidence. On the electronics front, on the other hand, we still have a lot of work to do in order to reach a satisfactory base level. We need more time to figure out how to take the best advantage of the settings for all the parameters. Overall we have taken some steps forward and now we have the most difficult challenge ahead - taking the new 2016 bike onto the track."
   
   FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
   “Three very useful days to increase our familiarity with the new aspects of this season, tyres and the new electronics. Being able to finish various assessments was extremely important, especially in terms of the electronics, in order to create a good base setup to transfer to the new prototype. Stefan and Alvaro once again proved to be great professionals. The data collected will allow us to streamline setting up development on the new bike. It will début before long and I would like to thank all the Aprilia engineers and technicians who put in an enormous effort to make a new bike. We can't wait to see it in action.”
   
   ALVARO BAUTISTA
   “We did a lot of work over these three days, especially on the electronics. We put in a lot of short sessions to give our technicians a change to analyse a large quantity of small changes, gathering information which will then be analysed at home. There is still a lot to do. For the tyres I'm beginning to learn the characteristics and the feeling has greatly improved. After riding for my entire MotoGP career on a certain type of tyre it took some time to adapt. I can't wait to get to Doha where there will be more days of hard work but with the important motivation of the new bike.”
   
   STEFAN BRADL
   “These were some intense tests, spent above all on trying to improve the electronics package. Progress was made although we know that there is still plenty of room for improvement. This was the last test with the 2015 bike, so gathering as much data as possible was fundamental to facilitate the racing department's job. My mind is already on the next tests in Qatar where we'll have a completely new bike on which to apply everything we've learned thus far. By analysing the data and crunching the numbers on what we've tested I think that we'll be able to start from the best possible base electronics settings and then improve on it race after race.”

5. 2016 MOTOGP SEASON BEGINS IN MALAYSIA

   Posted on 1:00pm Monday 1st Feb 2016

   Sepang (Malaysia), 3 February 2016 - The third and final day of testing with the Aprilia RS-GP machines at THE THE FIRST OF THREE DAYS OF TESTING TODAY FOR BAUTISTA AND BRADL ON THE APRILIA RS-GP MACHINES
   
   Sepang (Malaysia), 1 February 2016 - The 2016 MotoGP season kicked off with the first day of tests, traditionally held at Sepang, with Aprilia committed to their second year in the top motorcycle racing category.

   For the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini official riders, Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl, it is also a return to the saddle after the long winter break, so for the first day they were mainly focused on getting back into the groove. From a technical point of view, the area of greatest interest has to do with the new electronics, a unique package that must be developed and matched to the peculiar characteristics of each bike. The team focused their efforts on this front, looking for a basic setup that can then be transferred to the new 2016 Aprilia RS-GP prototype.

   On the first of the three days scheduled Alvaro Bautista put in 34 laps and his team mate, Stefan Bradl, put in 39.
   
   ALVARO BAUTISTA
   “After two months without a bike this first test is essential for getting back into the groove. We have a lot of work to do, especially in terms of the new electronics package. I'm expecting three intense days where we can take as many steps forward as possible, progress that we'll then be able to use on the new bike.”
   
   STEFAN BRADL
   “Here at Sepang we'll use the 2015 RS-GP, but the work schedule is rather tight for us anyway. The feeling with the new electronics and the new tyres must be developed lap by lap. The first tests of the season are always something special. You get back onto the track after a long break but it really only takes a few kilometres to reacquire the right sensations.”