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Category: Moto GP
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This is the best finish thus far for the Aprilia RS-GP which continues to improve race performance
Barcelona (Spain), 14 June 2015 – It was a weekend of hard work for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini with the changes tested during the week at Misano brought straight away to Barcelona setting a furious work pace for the entire team. It was an effort rewarded by Alvaro Bautista's great race, riding his Aprilia RS-GP to a tenth place finish and the best result thus far in this first part of the season.
Alvaro, who started from the seventh row, got off to an excellent start which allowed him to overtake several riders and immediately lock onto the central group which is the current race goal. He held the pace of the central group well and in the final laps he engaged in an exciting duel with Miller which, thanks in part to a few DNFs, resulted in the first top ten finish and 6 championship points. Marco Melandri had an unlucky race, delayed at the start and then forced to withdraw by problems with the gearbox in the seventh lap.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“Alvaro's great race is a good result that lifts our morale. There is a lot of work left to do to close the gap behind the leaders but if you think about the fact that we are racing with a bike which is a laboratory we are rather pleased with today. We see that we are improving race performance and we are often with the centre of the group. Races like this one make it clear which points we need to work on to close the gap behind the leaders. I feel bad for Marco who had a mechanical problem, but that's part of the experience we are building, given the amount of new things we are testing each time."
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“In a race that promised to be very difficult Bautista battled with great determination, managing to win various battles with other riders. There were some DNFs but Alvaro managed to keep a good pace despite difficult conditions. I'm very pleased with the efforts being made in this project so my compliments go to him and the entire team. It's a nice result, important for morale and to keep progressing.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“After a good start which helped me make up a few positions I rode the first laps of the race trying not to be too aggressive in order to conserve the tyres. In fact, we knew that their performance would drop a lot. The track conditions were very difficult with not much grip so I couldn't push like I did in practice. In any case, today we saw a lot of crashes so making it to the finish was important. We made it and we are pleased because we were able to gain more experience with the bike and other valuable data to improve in the coming rounds. In the finale I had fun battling it out with Miller. I felt like I was faster than him and in the end, after overtaking one another several times, two laps from the end I managed to pull ahead a bit to finish in the top ten.”
MARCO MELANDRI
“I had a setup that was different than usual and I was hoping to take a step forward, but unfortunately hard luck reared its ugly head with a problem in the gearbox between third and fourth from the first lap. Anyway, that's normal considering the fact that this is only the second GP for the seamless gearbox. We'll see about continuing the work we weren't able to complete today in the tests tomorrow. Congratulations to Bautista for finishing in the top ten. That's a good sign for everyone.”
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Barcelona (Spain), 12 June 2015 – On the Montmelò Catalan track the practice sessions for Sunday's GP got underway. The Aprilia RS-GP bikes ridden by Alvaro Bautista and Marco Melandri are on the track.
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini also had a midweek track session with tests that Bautista conducted on Wednesday at the Misano circuit. Some of the solutions the Spanish rider tested were brought to Barcelona in keeping with the “test season” spirit that characterises the Italian team's year.
Bautista finished today's free practice sessions with the 21st best time (in 1’43,463), placing just behind a group of riders who are all grouped within a few tenths of a second of one another, so Saturday will be decisive in trying to gain positions. Melandri was lagging a bit behind, finishing in 25th place with a best time of 1’45,270.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“These were two very demanding sessions in terms of bike setup. Barcelona is a very complex track but toward the end of the session we made significant improvement with Alvaro, also trying some of the solutions we had tested at Misano. We'll use some others tomorrow with the goal of increasing grip to the rear, which is currently our most important objective. Marco was also feeling a general instability with the bike, so we have a few different solutions there as well that we'll try on the track Saturday.”
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“Today Alvaro worked a lot with his mechanics as usual. He rode in the morning session with the new frame he had tested at Misano before coming here to Barcelona and then he focused on the one he had been using up to now. He also improved his times in the afternoon, moving up in the positions. There are still a lot of little things that need to be improved for tomorrow and hopefully we will go down the right path so that they can work together in the best possible way for us to keep progressing.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“This was an important day because we wanted to try the frame we had tested at Misano straight away. I found some advantages there, but here the difference wasn't quite as clear, so obviously it depends on the circuit. Now we need to improve above all in the braking sections and we need more grip on the fast turns.”
MARCO MELANDRI
“Today we worked on the setup and we had some difficulties, especially in terms of grip. So tomorrow we'll try to make a few changes to the frame geometries, trying to reach a higher level of confidence with the bike.”
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A VERY GENEROUS RACE AND TWO POINTS (14th PLACE) AT THE FINISH FOR BAUTISTA. MELANDRI FINISHES 18th. THE SEAMLESS GEARBOX PERFORMS WELL IN THE RACE.
Mugello Circuit (Italy), 31 May 2015 – For the Mugello MotoGP round Alvaro Bautista put all of his generosity on the track and brought home a 14th place finish which is his best performance in this initial phase of the season to earn another two championship points for himself and for the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini. Marco Melandri had a more difficult race, finishing 18th.
Just like when the RS-GP made its début at the beginning of this season, Alvaro expressed himself more skilfully in the race than in practice, significantly improving his position. One of the most awaited changes and innovations brought to the race this weekend was the début of the continuous shifting seamless gearbox which finished the race without any problems for both riders. This is another important milestone in the growth process for the Italian manufacturer's project.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“First of all I think the fact that we introduced some new important technology like the seamless gearbox is very positive, as well as the fact that both bikes finished the weekend without any problems whatsoever, both during practice and in the race. This marks and important step forward in our development schedule of the technology we need to compete in MotoGP. As always Bautista raced very professionally and skilfully. Now we need to help him improve his performance so he can increase his race pace.”
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“Today with Alvaro we collected two points that we can certainly consider useful for morale. Now let's just say that we need to work to earn them... with more overtaking. This weekend we brought a lot of technical changes to the track and we are pleased. There is still a lot of work left to be done but that certainly doesn't frighten us. We are doing our best to be more competitive and we will continue to do so enthusiastically.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“Throughout the weekend we worked on improving the situation going in and coming out of turns, also taking a few small steps forward. To be honest I expected to lap a half a second faster, but the conditions slowed me down a bit, probably because of the track that had changed, with less grip on the tarmac compared to the practice sessions. So I tried to maintain the most consistent pace possible and in the end we made our best placing of the season, right here in the team's Home Grand Prix. I'm pleased even if it is clear that there is still much work to be done. In any case I would like to thank the entire team, Aprilia, our sponsors and also all the fans that came out to support us and now we'll be trying to take some steps forward for the next round in Barcelona.”
MARCO MELANDRI
“It wasn't easy to ride because I continued to have various setup problems so I had a difficult race. Aprilia made a big effort bringing various technical innovations here, including the seamless gearbox that works well, but now I need some chassis changes that can help me.”
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More legends added as ultimate festival weekend of classic grand prix action just around the corner
The first ever World GP Bike Legends takes place in just a month’s time at Jerez, Spain on 19-21 June. A full weekend festival spectacular, the event will see an incredible array of former motorcycle world champions and race winners going elbow to elbow on track while live music, modern and classic bike displays, trails shows and trade stands keep the off-track entertainment at fever pitch across all three days.
Alongside the likes of Freddie Spencer, Wayne Gardner, Kevin Schwantz, Christian Sarron, Loris Capirossi and many more, there are some late additions to the racing bill this week, as Niggi Schmassmann joins the legends roster and Michael Neeves signs up as a guest entry.
Schmassmann raced at 500cc World Championship level between 1988 and 1996 for Honda and Yamaha, though his crowning achievements came at national level. The Swiss ace topped the German 500cc championship an impressive four times and raced successfully in the European Endurance Championship.
Michael Neeves is a Senior Road Tester for UK publication Motorcycle News. He has tested every new bike for the past 13 years, as well as racing bikes, including 250cc and 500cc Grand Prix machines, 990 and 800cc MotoGP bikes and superbikes from the world, domestic and endurance championships…and everything in between. Now he’s joining the ultimate Race of Legends for an incredible weekend in June as Guest Rider.
The full list of confirmed riders is as follows: •Freddie Spencer
•Wayne Gardner
•Christian Sarron
•Didier de Radiguès
•Kevin Schwantz
•Graeme Crosby
•Steve Parrish
•José Luis Cardoso
•Carlos Cardús
•Loris Capirossi
•Juan Garriga
•Ángel Nieto
•Jorge Martínez
•Carlos Lavado
•Tadayuki Okada
•Phil Read
•Manuel "Champi" Herreros
•Hubert Rigal
•Niggi Schmassmann
•Michael Neeves (Guest Rider)
Furthermore, World GP Bike Legends has signed an agreement with Sunoco to be the Official Fuel Supplier to the race festival.
Supplying top quality fuel, Sunoco are no stranger to the racing world and are delighted to be involved in this inaugural event. They will have a full range of fuels available in the paddock for competitors throughout the weekend.
Manuel Dongil of RR2 Racing Fuel SL, said: “We’re delighted to be supplying the fuel at what promises to be a fantastic event and one that fans of motorcycles should not miss. Seeing the racing legends of the ‘golden years’, the ‘80s and ‘90s, such as Freddie Spender, Wayne Gardner and Carlos Cardus, thrashing around Jerez circuit on the original 2-stroke bikes, I can’t wait. There’s a whole race schedule over the weekend, featuring not only the 500cc and 250cc bikes, but also 350/250cc, 125cc and 80cc, so there’s a real mix and something for everyone.”
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The seamless gearbox makes its debut on the Aprilia RS-GP bikes ridden by Bautista and Melandri. The chassis and setups have also undergone many changes
Mugello Circuit (Italy), 29 May 2015 - The first day of free practice at the Italian Grand Prix forced Aprilia Racing Team Gresini to set an extraordinary work pace. In fact, if the entire 2015 season is set up as a long and demanding test of the MotoGP project's growth for the Italian team, the home round is characterised by a series of development changes on the Aprilia V4.
As already announced, the seamless gearbox made its début on Friday. This is a continuous shifting system which, after the tests that only Bautista conducted at the post-Jerez sessions, here it is available for both riders. Some changes to the setup and chassis arrived as well for the RS-GP bikes. A series of new solutions tested directly in the races in accordance with the spirit of this championship season.
At the end of the first day Alvaro finished in 21st place (1’49.741) whereas Melandri had the 26th best time at 1’51.800.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“We brought the seamless gearbox to the races for the first time. It worked very well with both riders and this is an important step taken. It is quite significant that even Melandri, who also tried the bike with the conventional gearbox today, confirmed the clear difference between the two solutions. Marco also tried a front end with various rigidity but that doesn't seem like the right direction for us. At the moment we are focusing a lot on the setup because that's where we want to improve the most.”
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“We are really working a lot on various areas of the bike, trying a lot of new parts, so in this first phase we certainly couldn't expect immediate progress. We are continuing our policy of baby steps and we hope to see the first signs of progress as early as tomorrow. We are all fully committed, from Aprilia to the team and the riders, so we will continue to stay focused and confident as tomorrow approaches.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“This morning I tried a more tapered saddle with new ergonomics which make me feel a bit more comfortable on the bike, in addition to the seamless gearbox and an engine evolution. On the gearbox I had the same good feelings as the tests at Jerez so I'm satisfied. In the afternoon I tried a smaller fairing which performed well in the wind tunnel and on the track it also seems to provide some advantages in terms of more agility. The bike still tends to go wide coming into turns but tomorrow I'll have both the bikes fitted with all the changes so it will be easier to focus on chassis comparisons, which is the area where I think we have the most room for improvement.”
MARCO MELANDRI
“Today I was able to try the new seamless gearbox for the first time and it works well. Aprilia did a good job. As for the chassis the situation hasn't changed and I had the same problems that have continued to slow me down since the beginning of the year. So tomorrow we'll try to work more on the chassis to improve.”
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