THREE APRILIAS ON THE FIRST TWO ROWS AT MISANO WSBK
LEON HASLAM RIDES HIS RSV4 TO THE FRONT ROW
MAX BIAGGI TAKES AN EXCELLENT FIFTH PLACE JUST 25 HUNDREDTHS OF A SECOND FROM THE POLE AND TORRES IS SIXTH, BOTH WITH A GREAT RACE PACE
POLE FOR SAVADORI AND THE RSV4 RF IN THE SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP
Misano Adriatico (Italy), 20 June 2015 – At the end of an exciting Superpole, raced with record breaking laps, Aprilia placed all three of its RSV4 RFs on the first two rows, demonstrating that they will be key players in the two races tomorrow which promise to be unforgettable.
With the second best time (at 1’34.426), Leon Haslam placed on the front row, an excellent performance that takes on even more value in light of the fact that the English Aprilia Racing – Red Devils rider made that time on his second lap with a qualifier tyre, forced to give up his best lap due to a mistake.
Max Biaggi, on his return to racing three years after retiring, continues to astonish. After clearly dominating the free practice sessions on Friday, the six-time World Champion confirmed all of his class and his excellent form battling with the 2015 championship protagonists and taking a brilliant second row spot thanks to his fifth best time (1’34.463) just 25 hundredths from the pole. And this is in his first experience with the current Superpole format that allows only one qualifier tyre to be used, making Max’s achievement in this long-awaited Misano wild card performance even more exceptional.
Jordi Torres showed excellent signs: the Spaniard in his rookie World SBK year facing Misano for the first time on a factory derivative bike dominated in Saturday morning free practice, putting the best time on the sheets (for the first time) and confirming his brilliant day by finishing on the second row (sixth in 1’34.551), but most importantly, demonstrating an excellent race pace that places him among the potential protagonists of the races tomorrow.
Romano Albesiano (Aprilia Racing Manager): “Really a great qualifying session. Our boys were all fast, riding the three Aprilia RSV4s to the top. My compliments to all three of our riders. Today Max also put in an incredibly good performance and he seems to have a good race pace. Torres also has a good pace and he is looking good for the races tomorrow, as is Leon, who is in good shape although we know that we still have some things we need to improve on with him. I don’t feel comfortable making any predictions. We’ll take stock of the situation tomorrow evening, but we definitely are expecting two great races.”
Max Biaggi: “We knew that Superpole would be complicated for us. This is my first time with the new format and using a qualifier tyre on a flying lap isn’t easy at all. In these conditions it doesn’t take more than a small mistake to compromise all of the weekend’s work and the pace is so frenetic that there is no room for indecision. I’m pleased with the placing. The gaps are very tight behind the leaders and we have also done a good job in terms of race pace. I am satisfied and my compliments go once again to the Aprilia test team which came to the track with me to Misano in race configuration. Now I’ll begin to prepare for the two races tomorrow. I’m expecting a hard battle! The main goal is still to have fun and to give the fans a good time.
Leon Haslam: “This weekend we improved session after session. We had a good base to start from and we basically adapted the setup solutions we had tried at Portimão to make the work on this track. The track changes a lot depending on the temperature, so we tried to work quite a bit on tyre life and on consistency in the various conditions. I’m rather pleased with our level. I was the fastest one out there on a race tyre. In Superpole I made a mistake on the first turn, so I slowed down to conserve the tyre and make a go of it on the second lap. In light of this, second place and a good pace make me hopeful for tomorrow.”
Jordi Torres: “We took a big step forward here at Misano and this is an advantage for me. We still need to improve a bit with the qualifier tyre though, because I am still not taking full advantage of it like the other riders do. My goal tomorrow is to stay with the lead group and learn from Max and the others how to tackle a few of the areas on the track where I feel that there is still room for improvement. We are all very close and I have a good race pace, so I feel confident.
In Superstock 1000 the Team Nuova M2 Aprilia RSV4 RFs put in yet another excellent performance. Championship leader Lorenzo Savadori took pole position with a gap of almost 4 tenths of a second ahead of his nearest rival. Team mate Kevin Calia placed on the best spot of the second row thanks to his fourth best time in 1’36.971.
