At the opening of the Bologna Motor Show this week, Aprilia introduced its MotoGP race bike, a three-cylinder with pneumatic control of the valve closure (a first in the motorcycle world). The photos available of the engine reveal a very clean, compact design (certainly, more impressive looking than the Sauber triple revealed a few months ago).
By sticking with a three-cylinder machine, Aprilia will have a ten kilogram (22 pound) weight advantage over the four and five-cylinder machines from Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda. Aprilia indicates the machine will rev beyond 15,000 rpm and make more than 200 horsepower.
Aprilia also states that this machines involves the greatest investment in terms of time and money ever made by the company in a race bike. Despite an uncertain economy, Aprilia is “going for it” in the MotoGP class, a class it is passionate about participating in from the very first race next April.
Here is a link to Aprilia’s site for details.
