Category: Superbikes

1. PODIUM FOR SYLVAIN GUINTOLI AT DONINGTON

   Posted on 4:34pm Sunday 25th May 2014

   MELANDRI, FOURTH IN RACE 1, CRASHES DUE TO CONTACT IN RACE 2 WHILST BATTLING IN THE TOP POSITIONS.

   Donington (UK), 25 May 2014 – A nice third place for Sylvain Guintoli closes out the weekend for Aprilia Racing at Donington in the English round of World Superbike. With this result the Frenchman stays in the top part of the championship standings at 11 points from second place and 37 from the leader. It was a shame that during the first race while duelling with Baz he ran straight on and was relegated to a seventh place finish.

   Sylvain Guintoli: "Race 1 did not go as I had hoped. I started off well, pushing hard, but then I wasn’t able to keep the pace and I was really struggling. Then the team did a great job for Race 2. The bike changed a lot and my pace improved compared to the first race. I pushed hard to get away from Davide Giugliano but I wasn’t able to keep up with the two front runners. Anyway, this podium, on a track that is certainly not one of my favourites, tastes like victory to me".

   Marco Melandri, after finishing Race 1 in fourth place, seemed better in the second race and even able to battle for one of the top positions. A good start (from the third spot on the front row of the grid) had him duelling for first place with team mate Guintoli. However, in the fourth lap contact with Lowes, who came from behind and bumped him full on, forced him into a crash, taking him out of play. Marco courageously made up positions but only after a long stop which relegated him to the bottom of the final standings.

   Marco Melandri: "I can’t help but be disappointed. In Race 1 I struggled to go fast, but in Race 2 I’m sure I could have taken a spot on the podium because with the changes we made the conditions were a lot better. Unfortunately things didn’t go well and it wasn’t my fault. On the positive side we collected some important information about how to adapt the bike to my riding style. Now I just want to take things one race at a time, trying to improve constantly so I can get the good results that I know I am capable of".

2. GUINTOLI ON THE SECOND ROW DESPITE A SLIDING CRASH

   Posted on 10:30am Sunday 25th May 2014

    

   FRONT ROW FOR MARCO MELANDRI

   Donington (UK), 24 May 2014 – The wet Superpole on Saturday placed the official Aprilia Racing RSV4s on the first two rows and ensured that Marco Melandri and Sylvain Guintoli will be key players in the races tomorrow.

   The rain which had been forecasted for the past few days finally arrived to dampen the beautiful English track at Donington and to nullify all the work the teams had done during Friday practice. The extreme conditions – it is also quite cold – enhanced Marco Melandri’s riding quality as he rode his Aprilia to just two tenths of a second off the top time, taking a spot on the front row of the starting grid with the third best time.

   Marco Melandri: “Today’s result was important. I want to thank the guys on the team because they are really working hard. Superpole was hard. The first part of the track – the fastest part – was slippery and then the last long braking sections were quite difficult in the wet. It was hard to find the limit, so tomorrow we’ll have to see first of all how the weather shapes up and then we’ll prepare as best as possible for the races.”

   Sylvain Guintoli, a specialist in the wet, started off strong, firmly establishing himself in the top positions and even taking first, but a sliding crash in the second part of the session (without consequences for the Frenchman), forced him to come into the pits, keeping him from defending his top time. Once back on the track with time for only one more lap, Guintoli in any case was able to improve on his time, taking a spot on the second row with the fifth best time.

   Sylvain Guintoli: “As always a wet Superpole makes a mess of things. I felt good, but I slowed down for a lap and the tyre probably cooled down so I took a slide. I was able to get back on the track and take a flying lap even though the bike wasn’t performing at 100%. It could have gone better but in these conditions there is always a risk and second row is fine to get off to a good start tomorrow.”

   www.aprilia.it

3. APRILIA RACING WSBK - Donington Friday

   Posted on 10:37am Saturday 24th May 2014

   RAIN IS THE UNKNOWN FACTOR FOR SUPERPOLE SATURDAY AND THE RACES SUNDAY.

   Donington, 23 May 2014 - At the end of a working Friday, exceptionally characterised by three practice session instead of the normally scheduled two, good results were in store for the Aprilia Racing Team. Guintoli and Melandri finished the first day of the Donington weekend with third and sixth place respectively in the combined standings. But the third session had the Frenchman in second place and Marco in fourth - confirmation of the positive developments on this Friday. Of the top riders, including Sykes, the two Aprilia standard bearers were the only ones to improve in the third session.

   However, the weather remains the big unknown. The rain that was forecast even for today arrived only in the last seconds of the last session. If the forecast is correct - which calls for rain both Saturday and Sunday - the setups and solutions tested thus far will all be useless.

   Sylvain Guintoli: “Today was a very demanding day with three sessions and a lot of testing. The bike is performing very well at the moment on the flying lap, but we still need to work on race pace. We have the speed, our times are proof of that, so we just need to focus on pace to make sure our performance is consistent and to get the most out of the RSV4 over long distance”.

   Marco Melandri: "We still haven't taken a decisive step but, especially in the afternoon when we went back to a standard setup, I was able to go fast in a few laps. We are working 360 degrees to find a setup that will let me be fast and consistent and we are also waiting to see how the weather develops because that will be the biggest unknown of the weekend”.

   www.aprilia.it

4. THE APRILIA RACING TEAM FLIES TO ENGLAND FOR THE WORLD SUPERBIKE ROUND AT DONINGTON

   Posted on 3:46pm Wednesday 21st May 2014

   THIS IS THE "HOME" TRACK FOR SYLVAIN GUINTOLI, LYING THIRD IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS.

   MARCO MELANDRI: “I LIKE DONINGTON A LOT. IT'S THE PERFECT TRACK FOR TWO GREAT RACES”.

   Donington (UK), 21 May 2014 – Leaving the throngs of fans behind from the Imola round, the World Superbike Championship travels to England, just a shout from the famous Sherwood Forest. The 4,023 metres that make up the Donington Circuit will set the stage this weekend for the fifth round of the 2014 season, which has the Aprilia Racing Team in the thick of the battle for the final victory in both the Rider standings (with Guintoli lying third, just 16 points from the top) and in the Manufacturer standings where Aprilia, reigning World Champion with the RSV4, is defending the title won last season.

   The English track has a fast and flowing set up with a lot of up and downhill sections that follow the conformation of the hilly terrain. The section right before the finish is characterised by some violent braking and acceleration sections which have often set the stage for spectacular duels in the final laps of the race. As always, the weather conditions will be a huge question mark which can reshuffle the deck throughout the weekend.

   Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli, lying third in the rider standings with 2 race wins under his belt already this season and as many podiums, will be playing on his "home" pitch as he lives just a few kilometres from the circuit. For Sylvain the 2014 season started off the best possible way. His feeling with the Aprilia RSV4 is perfect and the French rider's ambitions bring him to Donington with a specific goal of earning some important points in the battle for the championship.

   Sylvain Guintoli: "I’m very excited to race in Donington, the only UK round in 2014. I live only 30 minutes from the track so it's like my home race, with many family and friends coming to support. I also love riding this track and had two strong results last year. I am ready for battle".

   Encouraged by the tests held at Imola after the race weekend and spurred on by the desire to redeem himself, Marco Melandri sees Donington as the ideal circuit get his season on track. The extensive fine tuning that Marco and the Aprilia mechanics focused on at Imola produced good signs over the weekend there and a result worthy of the Italian duo seems to be just around the corner.

   Marco Melandri: "Donington is a track that I like a lot and one that suits my riding style very well. I'm confident that the characteristics of the English circuit will suit my RSV4 much better than Imola. Let's hope the weather cooperates because I really want to ride two good races and redeem myself for a period which has been decidedly below my potential".

5. Donington Park another ‘home’ race for Pata Honda‏

   Posted on 9:00am Tuesday 20th May 2014

   The Pata Honda team will re-assemble in the United Kingdom this weekend (23-25 May) for round five of the 2014 World Superbike Championship at the Donington Park circuit to the north-east of Birmingham.

   After a home round for the team at Assen in the Netherlands last month, title partners Pata enjoyed their own home event at Imola’s fourth round in Italy last time out. Now it’s the turn of Honda Motor Europe – based at Langley near London – to enjoy its own home round, along with the team’s British riders Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam, who lives just 30 minutes drive to the north of the historic 4.023km Donington Park circuit.

   Haslam has enjoyed two World Superbike podiums in recent years at Donington including a second place in 2009 during an earlier spell on Honda’s CBR1000RR Fireblade. The Derbyshire rider will be more determined than ever to provide those kind results that have so far eluded him since his return to Honda in 2013.

   Despite valiant efforts to the contrary in practice sessions, 30-year-old Haslam was unable to race at Donington Park last season after breaking his left leg in a practice crash at Assen just four weeks earlier.

   Pata Honda rider Jonathan Rea, meanwhile, will be seeking to extend his stunning run of recent form which has seen the 27-year-old British rider take his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP to podium finishes in five of the last six races, including victories in the last three with a dominant double in the last round at Imola.

   That run of results has given Rea a four-point lead at the top of the championship table, but the Northern Irishman has been on the Donington podium just once in his World Superbike career. That was a visit to the top step following his victory in race two in 2012.