Team Althea Racing – Monza SBK preview The fourth round of the 2013 eni Superbike World Championship will take place over the weekend of May 10-11-12 at the historical “Autodromo Nazionale di Monza” in Italy. On this track, riders are at full throttle for most of the lap, due to its long straights and fast corners. The first track was built in 1922. There was major rebuilding in 1938–39, constructing new stands and entrances and the resulting layout meant a Grand Prix lap of 6.300 kilometers. In 1954, work began to entirely revamp the circuit, resulting in a 5.750 km course, and a new 4.250 km high-speed oval with banked “Sopraelevata” curves. Both car and motorcycle racing have been regular attractions at Monza since 1966 when two chicanes – Prima Variante and the “Ascari” – were added to reduce racing speeds. This resulted in a new circuit length of 5.755 kilometers. With technology still increasing vehicle speeds, the track was modified again in 1979. Further safety work was undertaken throughout the 1980s. Circuit main characteristics : Length: 5777m Pole Position: left Longest straight: 1194.40m Turns: 15 Superbike – lap record: Cal Crutchlow – 2010 – 1’42”937 Superbike – best lap: Max Biaggi – 2011 – 1’41”745 Two weeks after Davide Giugliano and team Althea Racing participated in the races at the historic Assen circuit, the 2013 World Superbike calendar now takes them to another historic racetrack, that of Monza. Last year race one was cancelled due to rain while Giugliano finished race 2 in eighth position. This year however the Althea Racing team can count on the competitiveness of the Aprilia RSV4, which has always scored strong results at the Italian track. Thanks to the experience that both the rider and technicians are building with their new bike, results continue to improve; Davide and his team aim to continue to fight in the front positions. Davide Giugliano: “I really like the Monza track and I still hold the track record for the Superstock 1000 category. Last year our bike was at a serious disadvantage on this very fast track but this year we can count on the top speed of our RSV4 and so I hope to be able to confirm the progress that we’ve already demonstrated at both Aragon and Assen. Riding in front of my fans always gives me an extra boost and I’ll be giving it my all, for them, for the sponsors and for my team.”