WIDE PIAGGIO GROUP MAGAZINE • ARTICLES COLLECTION • SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 2017
WIDE PIAGGIO GROUP MAGAZINE • ARTICLES COLLECTION • SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 2017
THE SPANISH RIDER WILL UNDERGO SURGERY THURSDAY 26 OCTOBER IN BARCELONA.
Sepang, Malaysia, 24 October 2017 – Despite his great desire to get back on the track, the injury he suffered at Phillip Island will force Aleix Espargaró to miss the GP of Malaysia, on 29 October 2017. The Spanish rider, who fell in the race as he was battling in the lead group, suffered a fracture to the fourth metacarpus of the left hand and he will undergo surgery on Thursday 26 October in Barcelona. The goal is to recover in time for the last race of the season in Valencia (12 November 2017). This is an unfortunate episode that occurred at a time when Aleix and his Aprilia RS-GP had been on a positive trend, demonstrating absolutely outstanding performance in recent rounds. The objective is Valencia, where Espargaró will set his sights on finishing an unquestionably positive season in the best possible way. The Aprilia Racing Team Gresini will not replace Aleix in the Malaysian race.
ALEIX ESPARGARO': "The idea after the injury was to avoid surgery and to try to race here in Malaysia. Unfortunately, the situation is forcing me to go back home for surgery so that I will be able to fully recover for Valencia. In agreement with Dr. Mir, we agreed to have the surgery done on Thursday in Barcelona. It was an unfortunate crash, but I am already focused on the last race of the season where I want to demonstrate the level that the Aprilia RS-GP and I have reached.".
THE SPANISH RIDER WILL BE IN THE SADDLE OF THE NEW APRILIA RS-GP FOR THE FIRST TESTS OF 2018 IN SEPANG: APPOINTMENT AT END JANUARY ON THE MALAYSIAN CIRCUIT.
Aprilia, Noale, 1st December 2017 – Aleix Espargaró continues to recover from the injury to his left hand (fracture to the fourth metacarpus and his pinky finger) that he suffered after a crash during the Phillip Island race. After undergoing surgery with the insertion of a metal plate and screws, Aleix returned to the track in November for the final round of the season in Valencia and for the subsequent tests on the Spanish circuit. After the stress of the long weekend on the Ricardo Tormo circuit, as a precaution, Espargaró skipped the three days of tests at Jerez at the end of November, which closed out the 2017 season for the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini.
Aleix's training program foresees an increase of stress to the injured hand during the month of December, with the goal of reaching good physical fitness for the first tests of 2018 in Sepang, scheduled from 28 through 30 January. At that time, he will be on the new Aprilia RS-GP, the evolution of a project that demonstrated constant and promising growth during its second year in action.
ALEIX ESPARGARO': "My injured hand is healing well. The weekend in Valencia was demanding and we also had two rather important days of testing right after the race. At the moment I am only training on the road with my bicycle, but the idea is to begin a bit of offroad at the end of the year. At that time, we'll be able to test the real conditions of my hand. I want to be in the best possible physical conditions after the break. I can't wait to get back in the saddle of the RS-GP for the Sepang tests."
INFO APRILIA RACING:
www.aprilia.com/en_EN/racing/moto-gp
(Scott Redding, 24, of Gloucester, UK, archive photo).
ESPARGARÓ AND REDDING TOGETHER TO FORM A MOTIVATED, WELL-ROUNDED DUO WITH GREAT POTENTIAL. ROMANO ALBESIANO: “HIS TALENT AND THE GROWTH OF THE RS-GP FOR IMPORTANT RESULTS.”
British rider Scott Redding will team up with Aleix Espargaró and Aprilia Racing astride an RS-GP in the 2018 MotoGP World Championship. Born in 1993, Scott Redding took his first steps in World Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing astride an Aprilia in the 125 class. In the 2008 season, his rookie year, he took a win at his home GP in Donington Park (he was the youngest rider to have won a racing in this category at the age of 15). In 2010 he moved over to Moto2, where he would remain for four seasons, taking 3 wins and 11 podiums. In MotoGP since 2014, as his best result, he boasts a third place finish at Misano in 2015 and Assen in 2016.
(Scott Redding, archive photos).
Romano Albesiano, Aprilia Racing Manager, commented: “Scott is a rider who, in spite of his young age, has significant experience in MotoGP. We are pleased to have him join our project and we think that his talent and the continued growth of the RS-GP will allow the team and him to achieving important results. Our bike has grown consistently, race after race. The goal to battle stably in the top ten has been more than achieved. And while further steps in technical development are on their way already this season, with this agreement with Scott, we are preparing for next season. Aprilia will be at the starting line with a pair of quality riders that have interesting potential. Aleix is demonstrating more and more that he is a high quality rider and a guarantee for the team. With Scott's contribution, we expect that the team's work will bring Aprilia even closer to the top of the championship, into the positions that such a glorious brand deserves to occupy.
Motogp 2017: Aleix Espargaró on the Aprilia RS-GP.
At the same time, we bid Sam Lowes farewell, certainly thanking him for his commitment and efforts during this, his rookie season in MotoGP, and for the contribution he has made to the team's growth. He is a rider who will doubtless be able to express his talent, but right now we must make choices that allow us to fulfil our commitments to the Piaggio Group and our fans. We will continue to work together with the efforts we have always made so that he can have a good season finale and we wish Sam all the best for his career in the future.”
(Noale, 14 Aust 2017 – Aprilia Racing).
Aprilia Racing Manager Romano Albesiano on the saddle of the Tuono V4 1100 Factory at the event in Kuala Lumpur.
AT THE “APRILIA MOTOGP DINNER” WITH THE RACING TEAM, DEALERS AND FANS OF THE #BEARACER CLUB.
MotoGP rider Sam Lowes of the Aprilia Racing Team, a guest at the dinner, on the Aprilia RSV4 RF.
The “Aprilia MotoGP Dinner” hosted at the Sama-Sama Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday 26 October 2017 (on the eve of the Sepang GP) was a very special event. The highlight was the official presentation – in front of an enthusiastic audience of dealers and fans of the Aprilia #bearacer club – of the powerful V4 motorcycles in the range: the Aprilia RSV4 RF and the Tuono V4 1100 Factory.
Completing the selection from the Aprilia offer (the brand is distributed in Malaysia by importer Naza Premira) were the Shiver 750 naked bike and the Aprilia SR Max 300ie maxi sports scooter, both decked out in special racing colours. There was also a stand dedicated to Aprilia accessories (“racing style” apparel and helmets).
The Aprilia Shiver 750 naked.
The Aprilia SR Max 300i: the racing scooter for grand touring.
APRILIA MALAYSIA:
www.aprilia.com/my_EN
INFO:
www.aprilia.com
Sepang, Malaysia, 27 October 2017 – The injury at Phillip Island has forced the Aprilia MotoGP rider Aleix Espargaró to miss the GP of Malaysia; the Spanish rider, who fell in the race as he was battling in the lead group, suffered a fracture to the fourth metacarpus of the left hand.
Aleix has been successfully treated on Thursday 26th of October at Clinic Quirón-Dexeus, Barcelona. Dr. Sergi Barrera, a member of the unit led by Dr. Xavier Mir, has performed the reduction and stabilization of fractures at the 4th metacarpal and the 2nd phalanx of the 5th finger of the left hand, using a plate and cannulated screws to compression.
Aleix will be back on track for the last race of the season in Valencia, on next 12 November 2017.
On 15 October 2017, the Autumn Stafford Sale, an important event for collectors of motorcycles and spares, organised by the Bonhams auction house at the Staffordshire County Showground in Stafford, will be putting a host of vintage racing bikes up for auction; and that’s not all. Together with rare Ducati, MV Agusta, Laverda, Norton, Vincent, Honda and other old motorcycles going under the hammer, the Aprilia RSW 250 from the MotoGP championship of ten years ago will be one of the “top attractions” among the lots on sale.
The bike’s colours are those of the Fortuna Aprilia team, then the official Noale squad, with whom Jorge Lorenzo (born in Palma, Majorca, in 1987) won two championship titles: MotoGP World Champion in the 250 class in 2006 and in 2007. The prestigious and historic auction house (established in 1793) has put a value of between 110,000 and 160,000 on the motorbike.
A number of rare vintage Moto Guzzi bikes will also be going up for sale: a Moto Guzzi 498cc Superalce from 1947, with a starting value of between 3,400 and 6,800 euro; a Moto Guzzi 124cc Stornello Regolarità from 1966 (1,800-2,300 euro); a Moto Guzzi 124cc Stornello Scrambler from 1974 (1,600-2,000 euro); a Moto Guzzi 110cc Zigolo Project from 1963 (570-790 euro).
INFO:
www.bonhams.com/auctions/24131/
Misano Adriatico, 8 September 2017 – The MotoGP weekend at Misano Adriatico marks thirty years since the first Aprilia win in World Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, achieved in the 250 Class with Loris Reggiani on 30 August 1987, right here on the Italian circuit. It was a win that launched a victorious sports history in all motorcycle categories.
As of today, the Italian Racing Department's trophy case holds 54 world titles in the various disciplines, including 38 in World Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing with 294 GP wins. That victory is also celebrated by FMI – Federazione Motociclistica Italiana (Italian Motorcycle Federation) who, on the occasion of the MotoGP round in Misano, awarded Aprilia in memory of that first world championship win. It is a tribute to a victorious technical and sports history that has trained extraordinary generations of riders and technicians.
Giovanni Copioli, Chairman of FMI, Federazione Motociclistica Italiana (on right, below photo): “As FMI, we are proud to celebrate this anniversary, Aprilia's first world championship triumph, earned by no less than an Italian rider, Loris Reggiani, and right here in Misano. The purpose of this recognition is to pay due homage to an Italian Manufacturer which, beginning from that win, has brought home countless victories, earning an impressive number of titles and holding Italian motorcycling high. I am certain that Aprilia will soon continue this winning tradition, given their efforts and growth in the premier class.”
Romano Albesiano, Aprilia Racing Manager (on left, above photo): “Looking back on Aprilia's first win today traces back over an extraordinary, all Italian heritage of victories. That fantastic performance by Loris Reggiani was the first step in a chain of 294 wins and 38 Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing Titles, which are joined by 7 World Superbike Championship Titles and our off-road successes. Today, Aprilia Racing represents the most technologically advanced spearhead of the Piaggio Group with the goal, on the track, of bringing home those wins in the premier category that are missing from our collection of trophies, while continuing to mould technicians and extraordinary skills, persevering on that journey that we began thirty years ago.”
Misano, June 2014: Aprilia RSV4 Superbike with celebratory livery, in the colouring of the AF1 winner, in 250, with Loris Reggiani in the GP of 1987, marking the first Aprilia victory in the MotoGP.
RIDING A MOTO GUZZI LE MANS FITTED OUT BY THE HISTORIC GUARESCHI MOTO DEALER IN PARMA, BROTHERS GIANFRANCO AND VITTORIANO TOOK THE MANDELLO EAGLE TO SUCCESS IN A PRELIMINARY RACE FOR THE ITALIAN AND EUROPEAN VINTAGE ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP.
Mandello del Lario, 6 September 2017 – Moto Guzzi has raced back to success in a sports competition thanks to two riders who have always had close ties with the Eagle: riding a Moto Guzzi Le Mans, brothers Gianfranco and Vittoriano Guareschi dominated the 4-Hour Endurance at the Imola circuit on Sunday 3 September, a preliminary race for the Italian and European Vintage Endurance Championship.
Already familiar to Guzzi followers after his double victory in 2006 and 2007 with the Moto Guzzi MGS-01 in the famous Battle of the Twins on the Daytona circuit, now Gianfranco Guareschi has written another great chapter in Moto Guzzi’s sporting record. This time, it was a family affair, with Gianfranco teaming up with his brother Vittoriano; together the pair personally prepared the Moto Guzzi Le Mans bike, in the workshop of the historic Guareschi Moto dealer in Parma, working on the frame, suspension and engine.
The Guareschi brothers were the protagonists of a flawless race, and first over the finishing line, with a one-lap lead over British teams Dickinson-Brasher (Suzuki) and Linden-Simpson (Suzuki).
With the “Le Mans style” start, rider changeover and refuelling in the pit lane, the classic 4-hour race guarantees spectacular entertainment.
Another exciting story for Gianfranco Guareschi to tell this weekend at the 2017 Moto Guzzi Open House: “Guaro” will be the special guest at the traditional event to be held in Mandello del Lario, the home of Moto Guzzi since 1921, from Friday 8 to Sunday 10. This year once again, thousands of Guzzi fans are expected to turn up for three days of partying at the historic Moto Guzzi factory.
INFO:
www.motoguzzi.com/en_EN
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