Succesful 250cc test at night in Qatar

Mattia Pasini (1st)

Hector Barbera (4th)

Today was the second day of nocturnal tests on the circuit of Losail. The track was in better conditions than yesterday, because of the higher temperature and the nearly total wind absence all the pilots improved their times from yesterday. In the 250cc class Mattia Pasini, on the official 250 RSA of the Polaris World team , set an impressive time of 1' 59"761, in front the other official RSA's of Alex Debon and Alvaro Bautista. Behind them we find Hector Barbera and the two KTM's of Kallio and Aoyama. Seventh position for Thomas Luthi, thirteenth Faubel, while Alex Baldolini closes in nineteenth place.

Times 250cc

TEMPI 250 CC
1. Mattia Pasini (Aprilia) 1.59.761
2. Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia) 2.00.516
3. Alex Debon (Aprilia) 2.00.550
4. Hector Barbera (Aprilia) 2.00.719
5. Mika Kallio (KTM) 2.00.878

APRILIA V4 PICS & VIDEOS!

CLICK HERE BIG PICTURE GALLERY

The Aprilia Superbike, the bike which from 2009 will bring the Noale based company back to four-stroke racing, has been unveiled for the first time during the Piaggio Group Convention in Milan.

After the success in the 2007 World Championships with Aprilia riders and bikes dominating the 125 and 250 classes (winning all four titles, a repeat of the 2006 performance), the Veneto company gave a preview of the eagerly awaited RSV 4 “Race Machine”.

An extraordinary preview to a privileged audience of more than 1,200 dealers attending the International Piaggio Group Convention.

Four cylinders, 1000 cc, power of well over 200 HP in the race version, the new bike due to make its road debut by the end of 2008 will mark Aprilia's return to the World Superbike Championship in the 2009 season.

The Aprilia RSV 4 is driven by the most revolutionary and powerful engine ever built by Aprilia. A four-cylinder one litre 65° V engine - a layout making it unique among all the world's production engines - in which the most sophisticated engine engineering is combined with top quality materials and the most advanced electronic control technology.

The Aprilia engine in fact uses integral ride-by-wire technology, opening up new frontiers in managing such a powerful engine, with almost infinite possibilities for controlling power output and traction.

Videos

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Aprilia of the Week

Lee Jones is a upcoming star from the UK. He has been racing an SXV450 VDB in the British & European championships. He won the 2007 Aprilia European Supermoto Cup in Italy with riders selected from the Aprilia Supermoto challenges held in seven nations: Italy, France, Germany, England, Holland, Russia, and Spain. Lee contacted me and wanted to submit his bike for the Aprilia of the Week. Aprilia News is honored to put his bikes on the front page.

• Please introduce yourself first. Who are you and where are you from?

I am lee jones I live in the united kingdom,in the city of chester.

• Which Aprilia model do you own?

I ride two VDB replicas both 450s

• Did you add any mods to your bike?

I have had a lot of mods done but sorry there secret.

• Why did you buy an Aprilia and what do you like so much about it?

To be honest the VDB is the best bike I have ridden so keep building them Aprilia.

• And finally do you have any motorcycling tips for the readers of Aprilia News?

Tips for riding..spend your money on your suspension,then the speed will come.

Check out Lee Jones his website at http://leejonesracing.blogspot.com/

Cedric Melotte rides the Aprilia in MX1 for 2008

Team Aprilia Off Road is ready for the new World MX1 Motocross season. The production house from Noale reaffirmed their trust in Cedric Melotte. The talented Belgian’s objective this year is to demonstrate his true worth after a 2007 that was marked by an injury at the beginning of a season that affected not only his performance but the development plans for the revolutionary twin MXV 4.5.
During the winter break, technicians and Aprilia Off Road test riders had a lot to prepare for 2008, making the best of experience they gained this past year in the Motocross’ “queen” class, the MX1. The MXV 4.5 (that will soon be seen racing in its evolved Step 3 form) won the last round of the Italian World MX1 Motocross. It is an even more “racing” with its big-bang engine and modifications to the set-up, electronics, and weight distribution. Melotte’s will not be the only official Aprilia MXV 4.5 on the track, since Fabien Izorid will race the World Motocross for Team Jk Racing. Also on the Tuscan team will be Mike Valade, revisiting his role as test racer, but also as rider in a few races.

2008 Shiver news

The news on Aprilia has been very slow these last 2 weeks. Really not a lot of interesting stuff going on right now...

But I did find a couple of new reviews of the 2008 Shiver. Which has an improved ECU map wich fixes the poor fueling at lower rpm's and the smoothness of the fly-by-wire throttle system.

The new map also has 3 different modes. Sport,touring and Rain. Sport for full power high torque riding, touring for a more gentle torque curve and the rain map which gives 25% less torque and a safer torque curve.

Customers owning a Shiver say the bike with the new map is a different beast and a much better bike. So if you own a Shiver go to your dealer and get the new map loaded!

The reviews are in Italian but they have some nice pics and the Motociclismo one also has a nice onboard video of the Shiver.

Motociclismo Shiver review

Infomotori Shiver review

Aprilia Benelux Supermoto team

Since yesterday an agreement has been signed. The agreement was signed between the Dutch Aprilia importer Mototricolore, camping in den HOF and Supermoto rider Peter van den Berk. This cooperation has the name: Aprilia Benelux team. The team has a strong package for the new season, and can be counted among the favourites. Peter will take part in the ONK(Dutch Championship)/inters, BK (Belgian championship) and the spabikerschallenge (' wintercup ') for 2 seasons(2008 and 2009) . Peter will ride on a brand new Aprilia SXV Thierry van den Bosch replica!

Peter van den Berk became 2nd in 2006 behind Marcel van Drunen in the ONK/inters(Dutch Championship). He did this with a standard SuzukiRMZ 450, which indicates that the Dutch rider from Heerlen has great talent. With this offer he has fantastic prospects and this gives him huge motivation.

250 & 125 testing at Valencia

The 3 day 125cc and 250cc test on the circuit Ricardo Tormo di Cheste (Valencia) is finished. Alex Debon (Lotus Aprilia) is topping the charts after 3 days followed by KTM riders Mika Kallio and Julian Simon. The rest of the top 10 is filled by the rest of the top Aprilia riders.

Valencia - 250cc - Test Day 3

01 Alex Debon – Aprilia – 1.35.537
02 Mika Kallio – KTM – 1.35.556
03 Julian Simon – KTM – 1.35.861
04 Alvaro Bautista – Aprilia – 1.36.135
05 Hector Faubel – Aprilia – 1.36.145
06 Hector Barbera – Aprilia – 1.36.158
07 Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia – 1.36.214
08 Mattia Pasini – Aprilia – 1.36.383
09 Roberto Locatelli – Gilera – 1.36.579
10 Marco Simoncelli – Gilera – 1.36.635

In the 125 class Sergio Gadea set a new 125cc circuit record with a shocking 1.38.390. Gadea is followed closely by new Aprilia rider Bradley Smith (1.38.985) after Smith follows Gabor Talmacsi.

Valencia - 125cc - Test Day 3

01 Sergio Gadea – Aprilia – 1.38.390
02 Bradley Smith – Aprilia – 1.38.985
03 Gabor Talmacsi – Aprilia – 1.39.800
04 Pol Espargaro – Derbi – 1.39.917
05 Nico Terol – Aprilia – 1.39.922
06 Andrea Iannone – Aprilia – 1.40.008
07 Tomoshi Koyama – KTM – 1.40.024
08 Sandro Cortese – Aprilia – 1.40.031
09 Scott Redding – Aprilia – 1.40.133
10 Joan Olive – Derbi – 1.40.151