Aprilia into MotoGP
YEAR EARLY: ITALIAN MANUFACTURER ‘READY FOR TRACK’
Top riders ready to tackle circuit after first testing sessions.
Italian motorcycle manufacturer Aprilia will be present on this year’s MotoGP grids – a year before the company was supposed to join two-wheeler racing’s most prestigious battlefield.
That was announced in Rome, when Aprilia unveiled its racing teams in three separate world championship disciplines.
Representing Aprilia in the MotoGP category will be Alvaro Bautista and Marco Melandri, with the 2015 season dedicated entirely to development in race conditions, before introducing a full factory configuration prototype on the track in 2016.
“This is an ambitious checklist, but well within the capabilities of the designers, technicians and structure of Aprilia Racing at Noale,” said Aprilia racing manager Romano Albesiano.
“Our two riders are already part of Aprilia’s victorious history. Melandri was the 250cc World Champion on his Aprilia in 2002, MotoGP runner-up in 2005 and one of the stars of the World Superbike scene. Bautista was the 125cc world champion in 2006 and active in the MotoGP class for the past five years,” Albesiano said.
“We have already been on the track for the fi rst testing sessions. We chose to move up our start date, getting into the mix in the 2015 MotoGP World Championship because we believe this is the solution.
“We could have avoided the pressure and waited until next year, but that’s not what Aprilia wanted. In terms of development we are starting on a solid foundation with our winning experience in Superbike racing.”
Leon Haslam and Jordi Torres will represent Aprilia in the 2015 World Superbike series, and Kevin Calia and Lorenzo Savadori in the Superstock class.