This just in from Aprilia WSBK:
WSBK APRILIA RACING TEAM BIAGGI AND LAVERTY CELEBRATE THE BEGINNING OF THE 2012 SEASON IN MILAN ASTRIDE THE APRILIA RSV4
Milan, 8 February 2012 - The presentation was held yesterday at Spazio Broletto 13 - the Piaggio Group showroom in downtown Milan - of the Aprilia Racing Team, the official team which will represent the manufacturer from Noale on the starting grid in World Superbike 2012.
For the fourth year in a row, the Aprilia Racing Team participates as a key player in the most important championship reserved for factory derivative bikes, an extremely popular competition with all motorcycle enthusiasts where all of the major sport bike manufacturers face off.
The Italian team can count on five time world champion Max Biaggi, the only Italian in history to have won (in 2010 on his Aprilia RSV4) the WSBK championship wreath, accompanied by Eugene Laverty, the twenty-five year old rider from Northern Ireland who had an excellent 2011 season in his championship début.
In this exciting technological competition Aprilia brings to the table the diamond head of its history: the four cylinder RSV4, characterised by the exclusive architecture of its narrow 1,000 cc V engine, an extraordinary project which was born and raised within the Aprilia Racing Division and simultaneously developed for the street version of the bike, available to all enthusiasts.
"It doesn't matter how many seasons we have under our belts and how many titles we've won. At the beginning of a new season I am always motivated to the maximum - states Max Biaggi - if anything, I must say that for 2012 I am even more motivated after what happened last year. More than one set of circumstances and a lot of hard luck kept us from defending the title down to the last round. And yet, in spite of a serious injury and having to sit out six races, I took third place in the overall standings. That says quite a lot about the effort we put in, but for the new season we'll have to do better. I look at this bike which I have looked after from the time it was introduced as very much my own and I'm certain that we have a lot to say and a lot to win, I'm certain that the level of competition, with the many team changes among my rivals, has increased even more. It will be an uncertain championship and I think that, as always, only after the halfway point will we be able to see who really has a shot at the title. We'll have to work hard and never stop growing, but I can assure you that this year once again, everyone will have to reckon with us".
Eugene Laverty on the other hand, had this to say: "This is my second Superbike season - my first on the four cylinder from Noale - but already during the tests in Portimao last Autumn I had a very positive sensation. From the very first laps astride the RSV4 I had a good feeling with the bike. I put some promising times on the board and the guys on the Team also made me feel like part of the family straight away. I still need to get a lot of laps in to really familiarise myself with my new Aprilia and I won't underestimate the difficulties that always arise when you change teams, but I definitely want to rack up as many podiums as possible and bring home some victories. Although the most important goal is to continue growing and getting faster.
Aprilia - Piaggio Group - is one of the most victorious sport motorcycle brands, having collected an astonishing 49 world titles in its brief history: 38 in MotoGP (where it also boasts a record of 294 GP wins), 2 very recent victories in Superbike and 9 in off-road disciplines.
