THE APRILIA MOTOGP PROJECT IS DEVELOPING NICELY

THREE DAYS OF TESTING AT JEREZ, LOTS OF WORK FOR THE RIDERS AND THE TEAM AND EXCELLENT END RESULTS

MELANDRI AND BAUTISTA TOOK THE NEW V4 WITH PNEUMATIC VALVES ONTO THE TRACK

Jerez (Spain), 27 November 2014 - Three full days of work for the riders and the team marked the second time on the track for the Aprilia MotoGP project. After the Valencia tests two weeks ago Alvaro Bautista and Marco Melandri got back in the saddle of their Aprilia MotoGP bikes to prepare for the 2015 season.

Once again the weather unfortunately conditioned the progress of the testing schedule, especially on the last day (Thursday), with continuous showers and a constantly wet track.

Despite the stops and goes dictated by weather conditions, the Aprilia bike managed to confirm the fact that it "hatched well", a fundamental quality for the development schedule to proceed consistently.

At Jerez the Aprilia riders were able to gain familiarity with the new V4 powerplant for the first time, an engine characterised by pneumatic valves. The engine, which guarantees higher levels of power than the first version with conventional valves, made its début on Wednesday since the work on Tuesday centred around fine tuning the electronics and set up with the old version.

131 laps were logged in Alvaro Bautista's 'three days', with his best time stopping the clock at 1'40.6, whereas Melandri lapped 123 times, putting in a 1'41.5 for his best time.

There is still a long road of growth ahead, but the indications that came out during the tests on the Andalusian track left the entire Aprilia team satisfied and feeling positive as they head into the winter break. Testing will resume on 4 February with the official session in Malaysia on the Sepang track.

Romano Albesiano: "Despite the poor weather we collected a lot of information, mostly positive. This was our first chance to get in some extensive use of the new pneumatic valves engine which proved to be quite promising both in terms of maximum power and manageability, despite all the work that still needs to be done on a mapping level. Alvaro continues to increase his engagement with Aprilia in a positive way, in terms of performance as well, although there is still plenty of room for improvement. As for Marco, he is continuing his apprenticeship on the Bridgestone tyres, a rather complex issue that would have needed the full three days of testing so one that will have to be postponed to the next tests in Sepang."

Alvaro Bautista: "We can be satisfied with the way things went, even if the foul weather slowed down our work. During the first day I continued using the bike in the same configuration as the recent tests in Valencia. We concentrated on the chassis set up, finding a few solutions that I liked and the allowed us to get to know the bike fully. On the second day I was able to use the new pneumatic valve engine. It has a lot of power but there is still a lot of work to do in terms of distributing it. Today we took a few laps in the wet which were useful in any case to assess the characteristics of the new engine in these conditions. Now we will start the winter break. I'll take a bit of a rest to recover from this long season, after which I'll get back to training so that I'm ready for the tests in February. In the meantime I will definitely be paying a visit to Aprilia to see the hard work the engineers are doing on the bike up close and in person."

Marco Melandri: "These were three interesting and very demanding days at the same time. Lap after lap I am figuring out more and more where I need to improve and what I need in order to feel at ease. I still feel quite self-conscious. I think we'll need to put in a few kilometres to find the right feeling. The new engine had a few growing pains, which is normal in this phase, but we have already seen what its positive sides are and where we will need to concentrate on improving it. We have a long period of down time ahead of use which we'll use for development so that we're ready for the Sepang tests. All the guys are working hard and the whole team is very enthusiastic. This is an atmosphere that gives me high hopes."

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Iconic British Motorcycle brand Norton is set to be a key part of the 2015 Isle of Man Classic TT presented by Bennetts.

The marque's development has been inextricably linked to the Isle of Man TT Races from the races inception in 1907 through to its modern day appearance with Cameron Donald setting the manufacturer's fastest ever lap of the TT at the 2014 meeting.

Rem Fowler's inaugural TT winning bike from 1907 will be returning to the Isle of Man as part of a unique pop up museum in the paddock that will also feature the greatest collection of factory Rotary Norton's ever seen on the Isle of Man, courtesy of the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham.

Eighteen original factory Rotary Nortons, including Steve Hislop's 1992 TT Race winning ABUS sponsored machine, a large number of the iconic JPS liveried machines and the Duckham's sponsored bikes from the latter part of the Rotary era will all feature in the paddock display which will run from Friday 28th August to Tuesday 1st September 2015.

The Classic TT Parade lap - Norton the Rotary Years sponsored by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company - will run on Monday 31st August. It will tell the story of the Rotary Norton during the 1980's and 1990's and will, where possible, feature original bikes and riders including the likes of Trevor Nation, Ian Simpson and Steve Cull. John McGuinness, one of Steve Hislop's biggest fans, will ride the 1992 ABUS in the parade.

The cultural focus for this year's Classic TT meeting will be centred around the late 1950's and early 1960's rocker years with music, fashion and other activities the backdrop of an era when the Norton brand was achieving iconic status away from racing. A large scale Café Race Concourse D'elégance will add to the hive of activity in the paddock with Ace Cafe, a driving force of the period, bringing the evocative era back to live behind the grandstand in 2015.

The 2015 Classic TT includes two race days on Saturday 29th and Monday 31st August 2015 and the paddock carnival on Friday 28th August. It is part of the Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling, which runs from 22nd August to the 4th September and also includes the Manx Grand Prix, the Classic and Two Day Trials and the VMCC's rally and Festival of Jurby.

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Motorcycle Live 2014, the UK’s biggest bike show, kicked off this weekend with 39 manufacturers and over 150 other exhibitors showcasing the very best in motorcycling products and services, alongside 20 FREE live features, events and shows to keep two-wheel fans and their families and friends of all ages entertained.

The nine-day show was officially opened on Saturday morning by a line-up of eleven champions from the 2014 British Superbike Championship and its support classes, including British Supersport champion Billy McConnell and four-time BSB champion Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne.

From then on, the stars kept on coming, with over 20 racers from British and World Superbikes, the Isle of Man TT and Speedway doing live Q&As and signing sessions throughout the day. There was also a special guest appearance from Motorhead rock legend Phil Campbell, who was presented with a custom-made trike by Victory Motorcycles.

Motorcycle Live takes place at The NEC, Birmingham until 30 November 2014. Tickets are available to purchase on the door at just £20 per adult, £13 for Seniors and £9 for children aged 11-16 (kids ten and under accompanied by a paying adult go free).

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