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HISTORIC VICTORY FOR THE APRILIA RSV4 FACTORY !!!
The Brno round of the World Superbike Championship saw Max Biaggi make history by piloting the Aprilia RSV4 Factory to its first ever win.
Qualifying third on the grid, Biaggi was able to take advantage of his front row start and match the pace set by front runners Ben Spies and Michel Fabrizio. Biaggi sat behind the leading pair until Fabrizio made an error entering a fast left hand corner in what was supposed to be an overtaking manouver on Yamaha’s Ben Spies. Fabrizio lost control of his Ducati, the error resulting in collision between the two protagonists forcing them both to retire.
Biaggi who was sitting just behind the leaders took advantage of Fabrizio’s mistake, avoided the drama and continued on setting consistent times that the rest of the filed could not match. He eventually crossed the line 3.63 ahead of the chasing field. The victory marks to first for the Aprilia RSV4 Factory and Aprilia’s first win in the category since Imola in 2001.
Crossing the line behind Biaggi was the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda duo of Carlos Checa and Jonathan Rea. Shane Byrne, Troy Corser and Jakob Smrz rounded out the top five.
"It's great, what can I say!” stated an elated Max Biaggi. “When I crossed the start-finish I was so happy to have won this race. Of course I don't want to take anything away from Spies and Fabrizio as they were both very fast but as Barry Sheene used to say ‘To finish first, first you have to finish’. I put my head down and did not make any mistake, so a big thanks to all my crew, Aprilia and in particular Gigi Dall'Igna, the ‘father' of the Aprilia RSV4 Factory"
Biaggi was again able to match the leading pace in the second race of the day, choosing to follow Fabrizio for most of the second race. When it became evident that Spies was pulling away from the group, Biaggi blasted past Fabrizio’s Ducati in hot pursuit of the Yamaha. Spies and Biaggi battled for the top podium position however it was Spies who crossed the line first, a mere 0.213 seconds ahead of Biaggi.
Biaggi’s pace which included a new race lap record along the way, yet again illustrated that the Aprilia RSV4 Factory could match the pace of the Yamaha R1 and the Ducati 1198S further proving the bikes potential in the future.
Third place went to Fabrizio followed by the Honda’s of Rae and Checa . Noriyuki Haga finished sixth in front of Tom Sykes, Shane Byrne, Jakob Smrz and Troy Corser.
"It's a great result, I am very pleased. It is not a victory but we proved that we have a lot of muscle and could fight with Fabrizio and Spies. I stayed behind Fabrizio for quite some time, while Spies managed to pull away. In the end I passed him and went to catch Spies. We got a good result and it has been a very good weekend for Aprilia."
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