AN EXTRAORDINARY DEBUT SEASON FOR THE APRILIA RSV4 LED TO VICTORY BY AN ASTOUNDING MAX BIAGGI, NOALE’S V4 WAS AMAZINGLY COMPETITIVE FROM THE VERY FIRST RACE. The 2009 SBK World Championships came to an end in Portimao and closed out a season that witnessed Aprilia as the protagonist with its brand new, revolutionary RSV4. The company, which is based in the Region of Veneto and is now a part of the Piaggio Group, debuted its new V4 65° Cylinder RSV4 on the track and returned to the world championships after a seven year absence. The RSV4 is a motorcycle that has raised a great deal of interest, even in its road version, thanks to the project’s originality at both the technical and aesthetic levels. It immediately demonstrated all of its magnificent equipment out on the track as well in an SBK championship that was unprecedentedly competitive and high level, featuring seven different manufacturers battling it out with one another. Max Biaggi’s return to Aprilia, after almost fourteen years of victories in 250 races, made the expectations for the all-Italian bike and driver combo even greater. The Japanese driver Shinya Nakano also raced alongside Max for the Aprilia team. The great expectations were met: the RSV4 astonished everyone from the outset. During the first race, at the Australian track of Phillip Island, Biaggi conquered second place in the Superpole and in Race 2 he battled it out for a spot on the podium up until the final lap. Despite the delusion in Australia, Max was successful in the very next race in Qatar, where he would climb atop the third place position on the podium for both races. During the first part of the season, the RSV4 certainly paid its dues for its debut. The lack of data to work with and the impossibility of being able to perform tests complicated the team’s work, making it necessary to find the best settings with very little time during the race weekends. Despite these difficulties Max Biaggi managed to finish in the top 5 in every single race. At Monza he conquered the third place position in Race 1 but was then penalized after the race for a questionable cut along the chicane. Then, both Max and the RSV4 took a decisive turn for the season at Donington. Biaggi, after an impassioned duel with Spies, conquered a fabulous second place position but it was during the following race that he completed his masterpiece. At Brno the Roman driver started off well and after just a few laps there was contact between Fabrizio and Spies, clearing the way for Max. Along with his RSV4, he secured the first victory of the season and – to complete a fantastic weekend – he finished in second place in Race 2. Biaggi climbed atop the second step of the Podium once again in Race 1 at Imola, while Marco Simoncelli, called in to replace an injured Nakano, took the RSV4 to third place; for the first time both of Aprilia’s drivers were on the podium. As confirmation of a level of competitiveness that had reached a fever pitch by that time, Biaggi conquered two more podium positions at Magny Cours: a third place position in Race 1 and second place in Race 2. During the final round of Portimao, Max climbed atop the podium again: he came in third in Race 1 and ended the season in fourth place in the overall rankings, the same position held by Aprilia in the manufacturer’s classification. In the end, the Aprilia RSV4’s list of awards for the 2009 season include one victory (Biaggi at Brno 1) and nine podium positions (Biaggi at Qatar 1 and 2, Donington 1, Brno 2, Imola 1, Magny Cours 1 and 2 and Portimao 1; Simoncelli at Imola 2). The seven first row positions should also be added to these results (six for Biaggi and one for Nakano, with both of the RSV4s in the first row at Donington), the track record at Brno and the record for the fastest speed ever recorded by a Superbike during a race, reaching 329 km/h at Monza. More, from a press release issued by Indianapolis Motor Speedway: MotoGP RACE REPORT: GRAND PRIX OF MALAYSIA Rossi clinches seventh MotoGP World Championship; Stoner cruises to wet victory INDIANAPOLIS, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009 Nobody can throw a championship celebration on track like Valentino Rossi, and when a live chicken wearing a crash helmet and a replica of Rossi’s leather riding suit was spotted on track at the Sepang International Circuit on Oct. 25, one thing was certain. Valentino Rossi was World Champion once again. Rossi finished third in the Grand Prix of Malaysia to clinch his seventh MotoGP World Championship and his ninth title overall. He also won world titles in 125cc and 250cc. It was Rossi’s seventh title in the premier class in the last nine seasons. Casey Stoner earned his second consecutive victory this season on his Ducati, and Dani Pedrosa finished second on his Repsol Honda Team machine in wet conditions. But all eyes were on 2008 Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner Rossi after the race. A group of his friends presented him with a chicken sporting a miniature crash helmet and leathers and also gave him a large egg with the number 9 printed on it. “It’s great to be World Champion again,” Rossi said. “My celebration was because in Italy we say an old chicken makes good soup but can no longer lay eggs. I am like the old chicken 30 years now but I have made another egg. That’s nine!” Scrambled eggs may have been more appropriate for Rossi early in the 21-lap race. A torrential downpour started 30 minutes before the race after an entire weekend of dry running. Teams scrambled at their best guess for a wet-weather setup. Rossi dropped from pole to 10th in one lap. His Fiat Yamaha teammate, Jorge Lorenzo, started from the rear of the field after a technical problem on his pre-race warm-up lap but still managed to pass Rossi on the first lap. But Rossi steadily worked his way back up the field to ride to the title in third, 19.385 seconds behind Stoner. 2009 Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner Lorenzo ended up fourth. Stoner started fourth and held that position early on Lap 1, but he sliced past his tentative rivals. Stoner passed Pedrosa for the lead near the end of Lap 1 and never trailed thereafter, stretching his gap to 14.666 seconds at the finish. American Nicky Hayden, the 2006 MotoGP World Champion, finished fifth on his Ducati. It was his third top-five finish of the season, with his best of third coming at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP. It was a tough weekend for American Colin Edwards, who started ninth and finished 13th on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine. But he gained three points in his duel for fifth place with Andrea Dovizioso, who crashed out of the race. The final race of the season is the Grand Prix of Valencia on Nov. 8. *** RESULTS KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia Results of the 21-lap Grand Prix of Malaysia MotoGP race, with position, rider, country, motorcycle, time behind winner. All riders on Bridgestone tires: 1. Casey Stoner Australia Ducati 2. Dani Pedrosa Spain Honda +14.666 3. Valentino Rossi Italy Yamaha +19.385 4. Jorge Lorenzo Spain Yamaha +25.850 5. Nicky Hayden United States Ducati +38.705 6. Chris Vermeulen Australia Suzuki +41.061 7. Toni Elias Spain Honda +48.555 8. Marco Melandri Italy Kawasaki +55.557 9. Loris Capirossi Italy Suzuki +1:00.303 10. Mika Kallio Finland Ducati +1:00.440 11. Aleix Espargaro Spain Ducati +1:01.655 12. Alex de Angelis San Marino Honda +1:01.847 13. Colin Edwards United States Yamaha +1:10.778 14. Gabor Talmacsi Hungary Honda +1:15.851 15. James Toseland Great Britain Yamaha +1:50.672 NC Andrea Dovizioso Italy Honda +7 laps NC Randy de Puniet France Honda +20 laps NC Not classified Fastest lap: Rossi, 2:13.694, Lap 14; Pole lap: Rossi, 2:00.518 *** POINTS Riders: Rossi 286, Lorenzo 245, Stoner 220, Pedrosa 209, Dovizioso 152, Edwards 148, Melandri 108, Capirossi 108, de Angelis 105, Elias 105, Vermeulen 105, de Puniet 101, Hayden 93, Toseland 88, Kallio 64, Niccolo Canepa 38, Talmacsi 19, Espargaro 13, Sete Gibernau 12, Yuki Takahashi 9. Manufacturers: Yamaha 366, Honda 272, Ducati 261, Suzuki 131, Kawasaki 108. *** PODIUM QUOTES CASEY STONER (Ducati Team Ducati/Bridgestone, winner): “I didn’t get a brilliant start, but I was happy to be in fourth as we came out of Turn 2, and by the end of the first lap I was clear by a second. I have to be honest: I didn’t expect to be so far ahead so early in the race, but when I looked up and saw three seconds on my pit board, I decided to step the pace up even more and try an escape. I kept pulling out a second a lap and then eventually decided to back it off and not take any risks. We’ve struggled with the bike in the wet this season, but everybody has worked so well, and the difference today was clear to see. We’re really strong now, and I can only see us getting stronger from here, which is great news for next season. I want to congratulate Valentino because to win nine World Championships is an incredible achievement. DANI PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Bridgestone, second): “Riding in the rain has always been one of my weakest points, and so for a long time I have tried to improve this by working hard and going over my limit in the wet. This hasn’t been an easy process, but now, finally, I achieved a podium in the wet, so I’m really happy and I want to thank all the people who have helped in this process. In the middle of the race, Andrea was just behind and he was closing and was putting some pressure on me, but I was riding well and I was able to keep my focus and concentration. Finally when Andrea went off, another rider was coming, and this time it was Valentino. He was going quite a lot faster than me, but in the last laps I kept my rhythm and was able to finish in second place. I’m very happy today. I also want to congratulate Valentino on the world championship nine titles is amazing.” VALENTINO ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, third, 2009 World Champion): “It’s great to be World Champion again. I am very proud to have done this nine times in my career. I want to thank everyone in my team, Furusawa-san, Davide Brivio, Lin Jarvis, Jeremy (Burgess) … everybody! This season has been very hard, and Lorenzo especially has pushed me to new limits, but I think it’s been a great duel for everyone to watch. Today was unbelievable. When the rain came, it was scary for everyone because all the work we’d done was then useless and we were riding ‘blind’ with the setting. I made a mistake at the first corner and then I was a long way back, so I think I did a great race to finish third. I was going to try to pass Dovizioso when he fell and then for a few laps I thought I would try to get Pedrosa, but with wet tires on a drying track, it was a bit risky by then, and so I decided to be safe. It’s a fantastic feeling to take this title with Yamaha again, and I also must thank Bridgestone, who have done a great job with the tires all year. My celebration was because in Italy we say an old chicken makes good soup but can no longer lay eggs! I am like the old chicken 30 years now but I have made another egg! That’s nine!” *** AMERICAN RIDER QUOTES NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Team Ducati/Bridgestone, fifth): “We’ll take a top five; that’ll work for us. I was quite excited when it started to rain because I’ve been on the pace with this bike in the wet this year, and I felt I could do something special. Unfortunately, I struggled a lot on the brakes in the beginning, and a lot of guys came past. From there, I had a lot of fun passing and fighting with people, trying to close down the gap to the lead group, but I was just missing a little bit to really go with Rossi and Lorenzo and try to fight for the podium. When Vermeulen came, I knew he was a rain specialist, so I pushed hard to make sure he didn’t see a crack in the door and think he could push it open. I’ve been fourth here five times, so I’m only one spot off my mark! After Phillip Island, it seems every time we try to get something going, we have huge bad luck, but I’m thankful I have a team who keep working and never give up. We’re trying to build something here together, and we’re making progress. Even this weekend, we were consistently up near the top. I have to say congratulations to Casey and Valentino. It wasn’t a terrible day for us, either, but now we go to Valencia and try to build on it again.” COLIN EDWARDS (Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha/Bridgestone, 13th): “The weekend wasn’t great, to be honest. The bike wasn’t fast in the dry for some reason, and I just couldn’t get going all weekend. We tried a different setting this morning and it felt better, but it certainly wasn’t a miracle spark. But with the rain coming like it did, it just made it a guessing game. I did two warm-up laps behind Valentino to check the conditions, and from that moment the front feeling wasn’t great. Even then I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get any weight on the front, and that’s exactly what happened. I could carry the lean angle I wanted, but the front wouldn’t load at all, so I couldn’t get the bike turned. When it was properly wet, I felt like I was upping my pace and closing in on the group for 10th, but then the tires started heating up, and I was sideways all of the time. In the final laps, I was losing a lot of time. I’m going to Valencia still fighting for fifth in the championship with Dovizioso crashing, but I don’t like taking profit from the mistakes of other people. I just want to say congratulations to Yamaha and Valentino. He’s done another amazing job, and nine world titles is just a phenomenal achievement.” *** MotoGP SUPPORT CLASS WINNERS 250cc: Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, Scot Racing Team 250cc. 125cc: Julian Simon, Spain, Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc Aprilia. American Cameron Beaubier finished 17th. He is tied for 27th in the World Championship standings. *** NEXT RACE Grand Prix of Valencia, Valencia, Spain, Nov. 6-8. Round 17 of 17 *** IMS tickets: Established in 1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has long prevailed as an icon of motorsports excellence. Beginning in 2009, the Speedway celebrates its Centennial Era, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the facility in 2009 and the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 2011. Tickets can be purchased online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com at any time. Tickets for groups of 20 or more also are on sale. Contact the IMS Group Sales Department at (866) 221-8775 for more information. More, from a press release issued by Gino Rea’s publicist: Gino Rea, 2009 WSBK Superstock 600 champion Ten Kate Honda’s Gino Rea clinched the European Superstock 600 Championship by a single point ahead of Frenchman Vincent Lonbois after a three-way dice for the race win at Portimao this afternoon. Rea rode a thinking man’s race, knowing he only had to follow Lonbois over the line in order to wrap up the title as the third title contentder Danilo Petrucci was way down the order. The young Londoner streaked away from the line, leading into the first corner from a second row grid slot before Marco Bussolotti got past him on lap two, and Lonbois demoted him to third. Lonbois and Bussolotti then swapped places for the lead time and time again while Rea held a close third. Rea tried to get a run out of the final corner to go past the German rider for second but just got out dragged to the line. However, third was enough to lift the title. At the start of the year Rea fought hard to overcome a lack of speed on his Ten Kate Honda compared to his Yamaha rivals, but regardless of his qualifying performance always delivered gutsy performances on race day. Rea said: “It’s an amazing feeling to be champion. I’ve really upped my game this year in every area and ridden the best I ever have. Coming into the race I didn’t know if it was going to be possible to win the title because I was the only one out of the top guys who didn’t test here before the race. But we worked hard and we pulled it off. I’ve worked so hard for this all year and to actually make it happen, im lost for words. I took a risk this year to stay in the stk600 class to bond with the Ten Kate crew ands its payed off to clinch them their first Superstock championship. After some set up problems in qualifying, the race went to plan. I could have pushed for a better position, but a close 3rd was good enough for the title. Id like to say thanks to everyone who has helped get me here over the years. Its not been easy and I wouldnt have done it without these people… my dad and family, Mick Corrigan, Llyod Peacock, Andy Stone, Richard Baker, everyone at Ten Kate and of course all my personal sponsors. Thanks!” Gino now has his sights on securing a ride in either World Supersport, World Superstock 1000 or British Superbike for 2010.