Aprilia in 2009 AMA Daytona Sportbike class

Aprilia USA, the North American importer and distributor of Aprilia sport bikes, announces the debut of an all-new factory-sponsored road racing team in the new 2009 AMA Daytona SportBike class, part of the 2009 AMA Superbike Championship series. The Factory Aprilia Millennium Technologies team will be managed exclusively by KWS Motorsports and will compete on the Aprilia RSV 1000R. The 12-race Daytona SportBike class premieres at the historic, first-ever night-time running of the Daytona 200 at Daytona International Speedway, March 6.

With the debut of Italy’s Max Biaggi and Shinya Nakano onboard Aprilia’s much anticipated new RSV4 superbike in the 2009 World Superbike series, Aprilia USA is considering its rookie season on the Daytona SportBike circuit as an important American circuit test bed for 2010.

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Tuscon Superleggera finished

Tucson has beaten its goal of creating a 100kg, 550cc Aprilia v-twin-powered sportsbike. In an independent weigh-in conducted by French magazine Moto Journal, using a calibrated scale, the Tucson BT550 came in at just 97kg (214lbs). That figure includes oil in the engine and water in the radiator, but not fuel. For some perspective, the road-going two-stroke Aprilia RS250 weighed 141kg (dry). Had Tucson decided to use the Strawber solid carbon fiber wheels that it had originally planned, instead of these forged aluminum items, it reckons that weight would be 2.5kg less. But this isn't the end for project BT550.

The French custom firm now plans to have the engine converted to run on E85 and to have body panels produced from organic (rather than carbon) fiber. Both should combine to reduce the BT550's impact on the environment when it's raced next year. That E85 should bring another benefit: more power. Already rated at 70bhp, Tucson's engine uses a custom cam for more peak power, while the E85 fuel should increase that figure by a further 10%.

We're seriously impressed by the end result of this project. Check out the size of the BT550 as it sits in front of its creators, Bako and Jeff; bikes of this size simply aren't produced any more. In fact, we'd like to see a picture of it next to a 125GP racer to see which is smaller. Using that 70bhp figure, it achieves a power to weight ratio of .7:1, in comparison, a CBR600RR is around .6:1.

Source & more pics: HellforLeather

V2 Racing Dorsoduro RR

V2 Racing is an Italian Company that specializes in tuning in modifying Aprilia's. They have their own Supermoto team and next year they will be competing with this Dorsoduro RR in the new FIM Hypermoto class that will be racing next to the FIM Supermoto. This Dorsoduro is heavily modified and has lots of trick parts. For more info about this bike check out Supermoto Central

Times of the last day at the Kyalami WSBK test

Today Biaggi and Nakano dedicated their testing to the development RSV4 engine, trying different configurations and parts. Max Biaggi has totaled 49 turns and with his best time of 1 ' 40” 768 he secured eighth place in today's ranking. Shinya Nakano has realized 32 laps with a best time of 1 ' 40” 968, which was good for the 9th place in the rankings.

" These three days helped us a lot - Biaggi has declared - we have worked a lot and collected a lot of information. The problem of the vibrations at the entry of the corner remains, now in this period of pause we will work hard to find a solution to this problem. They are the typical problems for a new V4 engine like this, it's nothing big but we will have to tuck up the sleeves and work on it, I really trust in the abilities of the Aprilia technicians “.

“I am satisfied about the three days of testing - Nakano has said - we learned a lot and where also able to set good times . These tests where very valuable, I have studied this circuit from top to bottom and the feeling with the RSV4 has grown. Too bad today we had a small technical problem that has forced us to spend to much time the box”.

1. Michel Fabrizio Ducati Xerox 1min 39.714secs
2. Ben Spies Yamaha Italia 1min 39.978secs
3. Noriyuki Haga Ducati Xerox1min 39.984secs
4. Jonathan Rea Ten Kate Honda 1min 40.035secs
5. Carlos Checa Ten Kate Honda 1min 40.170secs
6. Max Neukirchner Alstare Suzuki 1min 40.394secs
7. Yukio Kagayama Alstare Suzuki 1min 40.675secs
8. Max Biaggi Aprilia 1min 40.768secs
9. Shinya Nakano Aprilia 1min 40.968secs
10. Ryuichi Kiyonari Ten Kate Honda 1min 41.067secs
11. Troy Corser BMW 1min 41.102secs
12. Tom Sykes Yamaha Italia 1min 41.562secs
13. Ruben Xaus BMW 1min 41.996secs

Succesful first day for Aprilia at WSBK Kyalami test

Ahead of what is anticipated to be an incredibly close season of racing, three different manufacturers filled the top three positions, while newcomers Aprilia and BMW showed they will be a force to be reckoned with as they kept up with the pace.

Behind Fabrizio, hotly tipped rookie Ben Spies was an impressive second best on the Yamaha, the American edging out Max Neukirchner on the Suzuki, even if he was some three tenths down on Fabrizio's best.

Neukirchner's team-mate Yukio Kagayama led the way early on, but while he eventually slipped to fifth, Suzuki will be encouraged with the strong early pace of their K9 GSX-R1000.

Aprilia's Shinya Nakano was also one of the day's stars as he belied his lack of Superbike knowledge in an excellent sixth place. Given how new the RSV-4 still is, the team will be pleased to see Nakano getting to within half a second of Fabrizio's leading pace.

Team-mate Max Biaggi, who missed much of the day after a series of problems with his flight, was just behind in seventh, albeit six tenths off Nakano, but ahead of Ryuichi Kiyonari, who led Ten Kate Honda's fairly quiet challenge. Team-mates Carlos Checa and Jonathan Rea, who collided with Haga early on, were 11th and 12th respectively, but completed just 26 laps between them.

WSBK - Kyalami - First day Pirelli test

01 Fabrizio (Ita-Ducati) 1′41″204 (66 giri)
02 Spies (Usa-Yamaha) 1′41″599 (46)
03 Neukirchner (Ger-Suzuki) 1′41″713 (69)
04 Haga (Jap-Ducati) 1′41″730 (31)
05 Kagayama (Jap-Suzuki) 1′41″755 (39)
06 Nakano (Jap-Aprilia) 1′41″846 (51)
07 Biaggi (Ita-Aprilia) 1′42″446 (29)
08 Kiyonari (Jap-Honda) 1′42″744 (62)
09 Corser (Aus-Bmw) 1′42″975 (33)
10 Xaus (Spa-Bmw) 1′43″274 (41)
11 Checa (Spa-Honda) 1′43″418 (10)
12 Rea (GB-Honda) 1′44″496 (16)
13 Sykes (GB-Yamaha) 1′46″780 (16).