From a press release issued by Italica Racing:

Italica Racing announces the continued development of the 2004 RSV Factory towards joining the AMA Superbike series. “We have been working with the team at Aprilia to continue development of the new bikes,” says team owner Jeff Jensen. “Starting from scratch always takes more time than you hope, but we know that the bike must be strong when it joins the AMA series. We are enthusiastic about the potential for the new bikes – the racing department in Italy continues to improve the core package, and we know we will be able to build on that.”

“Both Mike and Matt are anxious to start testing the bike this year to build a foundation for the 2005 championship,” continued Jensen “the support we have received from racing fans has been awesome. We’re hosting Conrad Palmisano, the president of Stuntmen’s Association, and some of the members this weekend. We wanted to really show them what an amazing event happens when you race at this level.”

“We knew that aiming for a debut at Laguna Seca this year was an ambitious plan, and we’re sorry we’re not on the track already,” says team director David Lewis, “our goal was to tie our public debut with that of Jeff’s film. We did work with Race Promotions Management and were able to screen the movie for Superbike fans in the Flagroom VIP area on Friday night.”

Italica Racing is owned by Jeff Jensen, director of the dramatic feature film “High Speed” with the storyline based in the World Superbike arena. The US theatrical Debut is this fall. Italica Racing is supported by the Stuntmen’s Associations of Motion Pictures.