Max Biaggi's first ride on the RSV4

At Valencia this past week Max Biaggi had his first outing on the Aprilia RSV4 he will race for the next two seasons in the Superbike World Championship. The two-day test was made possible thanks to the kind authorization of Marco Borciani's Sterilgarda Go Eleven team, with whom the Italian still has a contract for the remainder of this season.

Biaggi encountered damp conditions on the first day, which prevented him from getting to grips with the new four-cylinder Italian bike. The weather cleared up on day 2, and he was able to concentrate on getting the seating position, ride height and handlebar adjustments sorted out. He made frequent visits to the pits for technical debriefings with his future crew chief Giovanni Sandi and Aprilia engineer Gigi Dall'Igna.

Biaggi, who lapped on standard Pirelli SC3 road tyres, made no comments and no times were released from the tests.

His first official test with the Aprilia RSV4 will take place the week after the Portimao race on November 2 at the Algarve circuit.

(Photo courtesy of Vallespi)