KYALAMI, RACE 2: BIAGGI FIFTH AGAIN AND NAKANO SEVENTH

The temperature dropped for Race 2 of the South African Superbike round. The numerous spectators who came to Kyalami participated in a grand show with great warmth. Haga makes it a double win, at his sixth victory of the season, hounded right down to the last turn by his team mate Fabrizio and Rea, third, on the Honda at a gap of 8"936.
Haga started off fast followed by Spies and Biaggi. The Japanese and the American try to begin the chase straight off, but in the third lap Spies breaks his gear shifter and is forced to pull out. From behind the fight for the podium heats up with Fabrizio, starting off badly, recovering positions, together with Rea, Biaggi and Haslam trying to catch up the leader. But the Ducati rider is keeping another pace and at the halfway point he manages to join his team mate and stay with him straight through to the final push. So only three are left to battle for the third step of the podium. Rea leads the pack, managing to fend off Biaggi's attacks with Haslam awaiting the right moment, which arrives in the thirteenth lap when he slips the RSV4 past with an impossible manoeuvre. The situation did not change until four laps from the end when Rea increased his advantage slightly; Haslam isn't able to respond as he tries to hold off Biaggi's continuous attacks, defending fourth position until the finish, while Max is unable to slipstream past him, finishing with the same position as Race 1.
A good race for Nakano who, after having missed the train at the start, is able to find a decent pace until arriving only two seconds behind Biaggi's pack in the final laps, finishing once again in seventh place.

"These two fifth positions are the most we could have gotten - stated Biaggi - The result is good enough, but we suffered quite a bit with the vibrations in the turns and coming out of them we didn't have a lot of grip and that forced us to use softer tyres. Compared to November, the RSV4 has grown quite a bit, but the competition here in Superbike is merciless".

"I did much better in the last two rounds - said Nakano - where I had some bad trials and inconsistent races. This time it went much better, even if I still need to improve my feeling with the bike in the first five laps where I lose quite a lot. Anyway, I'm happy to have come back up front and I hope to improve even more in the race in the USA".

KYALAMI, RACE 1: BIAGGI FINISHES IN FIFTH PLACE, NAKANO IN SEVENTH

The sun shines brightly on the Kyalami racetrack for Race 1 of the South African Superbike round. Haga wins, on the official Ducati, in front of his team mate Fabrizio, Ben Spies third on his Yamaha.
Haga starts off well from fourth position and straight away forms a train of 6 riders which begins a chase including Fabrizio, Spies, Rea, Checa and Biaggi, with Nakano trying to catch up. In the second lap Fabrizio takes the lead and increases the pace, and in the sixth lap the group begins to break up. Halfway through the race, Haga takes command and begins to widen the gap, riding all alone until the chequered flag; behind him, Spies and Fabrizio are locked in a heated fencing match for second place, with the Ducati rider getting the better of the American, pulling away four laps from the end.
Biaggi, starting off well from the third row, stays in the lead group in sixth place until Fabrizio's push. In the eighth lap, Biaggi engages Checa, slower than he, in a duel and manages to overtake him only two laps later. Max throws himself into chasing down Rea, in fourth place, with an impressing pace, equalling that of the three lead riders. In the nineteenth lap, Max catches up the American, who is visibly slower, and tries to attack him any way possible on this stretch where it is extremely difficult to overtake. Rea closes all the doors and Biaggi tries anything and everything in the last turn, but goes too wide and has to settle for fifth place at a disadvantage of only 0"105.
Nakano, starting from the ninth row, recovers two positions straight away at the start and tries to stay with the lead group, but in the second lap he is already more than a second behind. Shinya fends off attacks by Morais and Kagayama with a good pace, pulling away from them halfway through the race and trying to catch Checa and Biaggi. Five laps from the end he is able to catch up the Spaniard, attempting repeatedly to overtake him. Unfortunately, his attempts are in vain and he crosses the finish line in seventh place.

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MILLER PARK, RACE 2: BIAGGI FOURTH, SEVENTH PLACE FOR NAKANO

The sky was cloudy over Miller Park for Race 2 of the U.S. round of the SBK. Fortunately the rain held off and the 48,000 people in attendance witnessed the dual victory of their own Ben Spies. The U.S. driver and his Yamaha motorcycle repeated the success of this morning, ahead of Fabrizio on his Ducati and Rea in third place.
Spies started off well and, just as in Race 1, immediately broke away with only Fabrizio and Checo able to keep up with his pace. The Spaniard fell during the fourth lap, however and just behind them Rea, Biaggi, Haslam and Kiyonari contended for second place, joined by Smrz and Nakano, who valiantly battled it out for the third step on the podium about halfway through the race. Rea, managed to stay ahead and initially fight of Biaggi’s attacks. The Roman driver, who had a perfect start from sixteenth position, ended the first lap in fifth place, followed by Haslam. The young Englishman managed to pass him just four laps before the end of the race though, but Rea reacted quickly along the Miller Park track’s long straightaway. During the last two laps, it was a three-way battle for third place among Rea, Haslam and Biaggi while the others barely managed to keep up with their pace. About halfway through the final lap, Haslam fell, blocking Biaggi and handing over third place to Rea, while the Roman driver once again brought his RSV4 to the foot of the podium, confirming the excellent potential Noale’s four-cylinder motorcycle, despite its youthful problems. During the final laps, Nakano fell behind the group that was fighting it out for third place and finished seventh, 19:659 behind Spies.

“I’m happy with this fourth place finish,” declared Biaggi. “I had a good race and I thank the team from the bottom of my heart for the great work they did today. Yesterday we encountered some new problems that significantly influenced our qualifying rounds and this made everything more difficult. I believe I have finally understood the route to solving our biggest problem; the bike isn’t stable during entries and through the curves. Now we will work with our technicians to try to find some solutions as soon as possible, even if we won’t be able to perform any tests until July. Currently, we aren’t able to continuously battle it out for the podium, but I’m certain that once this problem is solved, the situation will change radically. We hope to improve for Misano. I really want to have a good race in front of my fans.”

“Earlier, in Race 1, I knew that I could keep up with the leaders, I just needed a good start and I tried not to lose my concentration and so it went well. I battled it out for second place with Kiyonari for quite a while, then Checa cut me off to pass me and I had to brake so I wouldn’t hit him, I lost control of the steering and fell. Instead, in Race 2 I started off badly and it took a few laps for me to get back my feeling with the bike. Then, I started to race with a good pace and I was catching up to the group that was fighting it out for third place, but during the final laps, I fell behind a bit, also because the cut on my finger from Race 1 was starting to bother me a bit. However, I’m happy to have battled with the best and this means that once everything is in place as it should be, we’ll be able to take over the lead.”

RACE 1: BIAGGI FINISHES IN SIXTH PLACE

A splendid sun provided the backdrop for Race 1 of the U.S. round of Superbike at Miller Park. In front of his home crowd and on his Yamaha Factory, it was Ben Spies who took home the victory, beating out Checa on his Honda and Fabrizio on his Ducati who came in third place.
Spies took of like a lightning bolt from pole position and after just a few curves already had a modest advantage over his two challengers, Nakano and Kiyonari. And just slightly behind was a group formed by Checa, Fabrizio, Haga, Parkes and Biaggi. The Spaniard established a good pace, however, and caught up with Nakano during the fifth lap. In the sixth, the attempt to pass him went on for a while and when he cut in front of Shinya he was forced to brake, his steering froze up, he ended up on the ground and had to quit the race. During the same lap, Muggeridge’s fall forced the judges to stop the race with the red flags. Then a new round of 16 laps continued with Biaggi starting off from eighth position and Nakano, who did not participate in the race, even though he had qualified, because he didn’t return to the pit on his own motorcycle following the red flag, as required.
The second start continued with Spies well ahead of everyone else as before, but this time he was followed by Kiyonari, Checa, Rea, Parkes and Biaggi. The Japanese driver and the Spaniard tried their best to catch up with the American driver, but they were unable to do so and Kiyonari ended up in difficulty halfway through the race, falling back several positions, while Rea, Biaggi and Fabrizio lagged behind. It was from this point that the time differences were calculated with the sum of the times of the two starts. With Spies, who already had the victory sealed and Checa who was sure to take second place, a battle started between Rea and Fabrizio at a distance for the third step on the podium and between Biaggi and Kiyonari for the two remaining positions. Rea finished in third place with slightly more than a two-tenths of a second advantage over Fabrizio, but it would be the Roman driver who would step atop the podium. Biaggi, in fifth place, right behind the Ducati team driver, would have to settle for sixth place in the overall classification behind Kiyonari and Rea, with all three within slightly more than one second of one another.

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APRILIA CELEBRATES MAX BIAGGI'S FIRST VICTORY WITH THE RSV4

The entire Aprilia organisation joined the men and women of the Reparto Corse motorsports division at the Noale headquarters to celebrate the triumphant victory of Max Biaggi and his Aprilia RSV4 at Brno. In the tenth round of the World Superbike Championship at the Czech racetrack, Biaggi scored his first victory with the Aprilia RSV4 - which made its debut this year - in race 1, and confirmed the outstanding capabilities of the RSV4 with a second place finish in race 2.

Max Biaggi wanted to share his elation with the entire Aprilia staff, recalling his past successes with the Veneto based marque between 1994 and 1996, when he secured three consecutive world championships in the 250 class: "I am thrilled to be celebrating this first ecstatic win together with you all. I am truly proud to be representing you on the track, bringing all of your hard work to fruition. During the final lap at Brno, I relived all of my wins with Aprilia bikes from '92 on, and I think that I must be the rider who owes more of his success to this brand than anyone else. I still remember the elation and enthusiasm of my whole team back then standing behind the pit wall! I truly hope that this is a sign of an excellent 2010 season, and not just on the race track".

Leo Francesco Mercanti, head of product development and motorsports activities for the Piaggio Group, played host for the celebration, welcoming Biaggi on behalf of everyone present and commenting: "The win at Brno is an extraordinary result because, in an incredibly short period of time, it has taken the Aprilia RSV4 onto the highest step on the podium. This is a bike that expresses the state of the art in engine technology and is the result of the extraordinary expertise and passion of the Aprilia brand and the entire Piaggio Group. The win at Brno is an extremely satisfactory result for us as it is a major first, and we hope that - as has happened in the past - this victory marks the beginning of a successful period for the brand in terms of both racing and sales. We believe strongly in the revolutionary RSV4 project and that racing, passion and victory are the greatest contribution that we can make to revitalise the market.

This year, with the launch of the four-cylinder RSV4 Factory, Aprilia - a marque with 40 world championships under its belt, 33 of which in MotoGP - has made a return to the world Superbike championship, the series reserved for production derived bikes. Aprilia had already competed in SBK from 1999 to 2002 with the RSV Mille twin, scoring eight wins - seven with rider Troy Corser and one, the last before Biaggi's recent victory, with Regis Laconi in 2001.

In the beginning of its debut season, Aprilia RSV4 has already demonstrated its impressive potential by securing - in addition to the win at Brno - four podium placings and remaining consistently at the top end of the classification. Aprilia RSV4 Factory is a race machine adopting totally innovative design and constructional solutions. The one litre, narrow V4 engine, state of the art electronics, ultra lightness and compactness and an infinitely adjustable chassis are just some of the characteristics that make it such a unique motorcycle.

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AFTER PORTIMAO RACE: BIAGGI FOURTH IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP, APRILIA FOURTH AMONG MANUFACTURERS.

RACE 2

The heat became unbearable at the Portimao circuit and for Race 2 drivers and team members were forced to review their choices with respect to the first race. Michel Fabrizio, on his Ducati Factory, won the race with a 1:195 lead over his teammate Haga, and a 1:494 lead with respect to Rea’s Honda.
Byrne started off very well, followed by Spies, Biaggi and Rea while Haga and Fabrizio were slightly slower. The English driver drove the first part of the race with his fellow countryman on the Honda right behind him, as well as Fabrizio, who managed an excellent recovery. Halfway through the race, Biaggi caught up to them, but an error caused him to lose ground which he then regained and then lost once more due to another “overshot” at the fifth curve. During the final laps, Haga passed Byrne and caught up with Rea who he passed, finishing in second place right behind his teammate. Spies’ fifth place finish ruined his recovery for the title by just six points. Max Biaggi finished just behind the new world champion, ending up in fourth place in the overall classification, the same position occupied by Aprilia in the Manufacturer’s Championship during the debut season for the revolutionary RSV4.
Leon Camier finished in seventh place, right behind the best drivers. Starting off well from the thirteenth position, Leon immediately found a good pace that allowed him to recover several positions, making it to seventh place by the eighth lap and managing to keep Corser and then Smrz under control without too much effort.

“It was a rough race," declared Biaggi. “We made some changes to the bike after Race 1 and they didn't help us so it was really a shame because we could have had a good result. I started off well and I tried to stay in the lead, but it was really difficult, the problems from the first race were accentuated and I made a lot of errors. Then, my physical condition made the situation worse because in order to try to recover, I had to make a lot more effort. In any case, I’m very happy because I managed to hold on to fourth place in the overall rankings, which is an excellent result, both for me and for Aprilia during this debut year. Together we reached a goal that even the most optimistic of fans couldn't have predicted."

“I gave it my all in both races," said Camier, “and we achieved two good placements. In Race 1 I started off well and during the first three laps I was very aggressive while trying to recover positions, I made a few mistakes but they helped me to better understand the bike and to drive it better. In Race 2 I was much less aggressive, I immediately set a good pace and I made fewer errors. I'm happy about how things went also because at the end of the races I was able to hold off competitors that have much more experience than me."

Portimao, 25 October 2009

SBK, RACE 1: BIAGGI CLIMBS ATOP THE THIRD STEP OF THE PODIUM

It was warm and sunny at the Portimao circuit for Race 1 of the last SBK round of the season. Spies, on his Yamaha Factory, seized the victory, 1:697 ahead of Rea and 2:113 ahead of Max Biaggi who finished in third place on his RSV4.
Spies started off well from the pole position, followed by Biaggi and the two drivers immediately broke away from Rea and Byrne who attempted to keep up. The American pushed the pace, trying to get away from Biaggi, but Max wouldn’t give up. During the eleventh lap, Rea managed to catch up to the leaders and during the sixteenth round passed Biaggi who ended up long in the sixth curve. The duel between the Italian driver and the native of Northern Ireland gave Spies an advantage, allowing him to extend his lead and cross the finish line in first place, shooting him to the top of the world classification thanks in part to a fall by Haga. Just two laps from the end of the race, Rea managed to pass Biaggi at the end of the straightaway, holding on to the second position until he passed the chequered flag.
It was an excellent sixth place finish for Leon Camier who started off well from thirteenth position and moved up to ninth place by the fourth lap. Then he began to battle it out with Smrz, Corser and Checa, managing to pass them halfway through the race to take over sixth place. Leon tried to catch up with Fabrizio as well, but his pace wouldn’t allow it and he remained in sixth position until he reached the finish line.

“We had some small problems this weekend,” said Biaggi, “but I drove over them. I’m satisfied because I’m still hurting from yesterday’s fall and at the beginning of the race I didn’t know if I would manage to make it to the end. I was fine at the beginning, but during the final laps, I lost my strength. I managed to hold on to third place just the same, though, which I believe is an excellent result, considering my physical condition. Now we'll make some modifications to the RSV4 to try and do better in Race 2."

Portimao, 24 October 2009

SUPERPOLE: BIAGGI IN THE SECOND ROW, CAMIER FINISHES THIRTEENTH

It was sunny and warm at Portimao for the final Superpole of the 2009 season. Ben Spies, on his Yamaha factory conquered the pole position with a time of 1:42:412, 0:584 ahead of Byrne’s Ducati and 0:603 ahead of Fabrizio’s factory version.
Max Biaggi came in sixth with a time of 1:43:714, just 1:114 from the pole position. The Roman driver was the victim of a bad fall during the warm-ups before the Superpole, suffering several contusions and damaging the motorcycle that he had chosen for the race. In Superpole 1, he used the second bike and managed to secure the second place time by using racing tyres. In Superpole 2 he the first qualifying tyre and he achieved a time of 1:42:956, which qualified him for the last stage in third place.
Leon Camier finished in thirteenth place with a time of 1:43:671, 1:259 behind Spies. During the first stage, the English driver qualified for the last open spot with the first qualifying tyre. In Superpole 2, he used the second one and remained in ninth place for quite a while, dropping back to thirteenth only during the last moments of the qualifying race.

"During the fall that happened in the warm-ups I damaged the bike that I do the best with,” stated Biaggi, “and I had to use the second motorcycle which wasn’t ready. In order to qualify, I couldn’t push it to the maximum with the qualifying tyre because I wasn’t very secure, and I don’t know how to explain the reason why Superpole 3 was slower for everyone. I ended up with some contusions, which hurt a bit and I went to the Mobile clinc. Fortunately nothing is broken and starting this evening I'll begin a therapy with painkillers so I can participate in the two races tomorrow. Tomorrow we’ll have to work a lot more during the warm-ups to be able to make up for the time that was lost with the falls.”

“We changed the bike quite a bit with respect to yesterday,” said Camier, “and the situation has improved a great deal, just as my feeling with the RSV4 has also improved. The grid position isn’t the best, but we all have times that are close to each other. We’ve understood which direction we have to work towards and I’m certain that well have a great race tomorrow.”

Portimao, 24 October 2009

SUPERPOLE: BIAGGI IN THE SECOND ROW, CAMIER FINISHES THIRTEENTH

It was sunny and warm at Portimao for the final Superpole of the 2009 season. Ben Spies, on his Yamaha factory conquered the pole position with a time of 1:42:412, 0:584 ahead of Byrne’s Ducati and 0:603 ahead of Fabrizio’s factory version.
Max Biaggi came in sixth with a time of 1:43:714, just 1:114 from the pole position. The Roman driver was the victim of a bad fall during the warm-ups before the Superpole, suffering several contusions and damaging the motorcycle that he had chosen for the race. In Superpole 1, he used the second bike and managed to secure the second place time by using racing tyres. In Superpole 2 he the first qualifying tyre and he achieved a time of 1:42:956, which qualified him for the last stage in third place.
Leon Camier finished in thirteenth place with a time of 1:43:671, 1:259 behind Spies. During the first stage, the English driver qualified for the last open spot with the first qualifying tyre. In Superpole 2, he used the second one and remained in ninth place for quite a while, dropping back to thirteenth only during the last moments of the qualifying race.

"During the fall that happened in the warm-ups I damaged the bike that I do the best with,” stated Biaggi, “and I had to use the second motorcycle which wasn’t ready. In order to qualify, I couldn’t push it to the maximum with the qualifying tyre because I wasn’t very secure, and I don’t know how to explain the reason why Superpole 3 was slower for everyone. I ended up with some contusions, which hurt a bit and I went to the Mobile clinc. Fortunately nothing is broken and starting this evening I'll begin a therapy with painkillers so I can participate in the two races tomorrow. Tomorrow we’ll have to work a lot more during the warm-ups to be able to make up for the time that was lost with the falls.”

“We changed the bike quite a bit with respect to yesterday,” said Camier, “and the situation has improved a great deal, just as my feeling with the RSV4 has also improved. The grid position isn’t the best, but we all have times that are close to each other. We’ve understood which direction we have to work towards and I’m certain that well have a great race tomorrow.”

Portimao, 23 October 2009

SBK: EIGHTH PLACE FOR BIAGGI, NINETEENTH FOR CAMIER

A Spring-like day opened the final round of the 2009 SBK at Portimao. All eyes were on Haga and Spies who were still battling it out for the title, but it was Rea on theTen Kate Honda who achieved the best time of 1:43:786, with a advantage of 80 thousandths over Smrz and 84 thousandths over Spies on his Yamaha.
It was eighth place for Max Biaggi with a time of 1:44:210 just 0:424 behind Rea. A problem with his RSV4 a few minutes after the end of the qualifying round complicated the Roman driver’s quest for the best race settings.
Leon Camier finished in nineteenth place with a time of 1:45:333, replacing Shinya Nakana who is still recovering from his neck injury, here in Portugal once again after Magny Cours. The young English driver experienced an apprentice’s day trying to learn all of the secrets of the track in Lusitana and to improve his feeling with the RSV4.

"Unfortunately, just fifteen minutes before the end of the warm-ups, the bike that I had been using all day had a little problem,” said Biaggi. “So during the last few minutes I had to use the second motorcycle with which I hadn’t even done one lap and it wasn’t ready. With respect to the last two races, we suffered from excessive vibrations going into the curve and this created quite a few problems for me. Now we’re working a lot to try to resolve these difficulties. I’ll have to drive it to try to find the best compromise to be the fastest possible starting tomorrow.”

“We made very few changes today with respect to the last round,” said Camier. “This was to improve my feeling with the RSV4 and to learn the track well, which is quite technical in some parts. We are still a long ways off compared to the others, but tomorrow we have to make some big changes, especially with regard to the curves, where I tend to slip a lot.”

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AN EXTRAORDINARY DEBUT SEASON FOR THE APRILIA RSV4

LED TO VICTORY BY AN ASTOUNDING MAX BIAGGI, NOALE’S V4 WAS AMAZINGLY COMPETITIVE FROM THE VERY FIRST RACE.

The 2009 SBK World Championships came to an end in Portimao and closed out a season that witnessed Aprilia as the protagonist with its brand new, revolutionary RSV4.

The company, which is based in the Region of Veneto and is now a part of the Piaggio Group, debuted its new V4 65° Cylinder RSV4 on the track and returned to the world championships after a seven year absence.

The RSV4 is a motorcycle that has raised a great deal of interest, even in its road version, thanks to the project’s originality at both the technical and aesthetic levels. It immediately demonstrated all of its magnificent equipment out on the track as well in an SBK championship that was unprecedentedly competitive and high level, featuring seven different manufacturers battling it out with one another.

Max Biaggi’s return to Aprilia, after almost fourteen years of victories in 250 races, made the expectations for the all-Italian bike and driver combo even greater. The Japanese driver Shinya Nakano also raced alongside Max for the Aprilia team.

The great expectations were met: the RSV4 astonished everyone from the outset. During the first race, at the Australian track of Phillip Island, Biaggi conquered second place in the Superpole and in Race 2 he battled it out for a spot on the podium up until the final lap. Despite the delusion in Australia, Max was successful in the very next race in Qatar, where he would climb atop the third place position on the podium for both races.

During the first part of the season, the RSV4 certainly paid its dues for its debut. The lack of data to work with and the impossibility of being able to perform tests complicated the team’s work, making it necessary to find the best settings with very little time during the race weekends.

Despite these difficulties Max Biaggi managed to finish in the top 5 in every single race.

At Monza he conquered the third place position in Race 1 but was then penalized after the race for a questionable cut along the chicane.

Then, both Max and the RSV4 took a decisive turn for the season at Donington. Biaggi, after an impassioned duel with Spies, conquered a fabulous second place position but it was during the following race that he completed his masterpiece.

At Brno the Roman driver started off well and after just a few laps there was contact between Fabrizio and Spies, clearing the way for Max. Along with his RSV4, he secured the first victory of the season and – to complete a fantastic weekend – he finished in second place in Race 2.

Biaggi climbed atop the second step of the Podium once again in Race 1 at Imola, while Marco Simoncelli, called in to replace an injured Nakano, took the RSV4 to third place; for the first time both of Aprilia’s drivers were on the podium.

As confirmation of a level of competitiveness that had reached a fever pitch by that time, Biaggi conquered two more podium positions at Magny Cours: a third place position in Race 1 and second place in Race 2. During the final round of Portimao, Max climbed atop the podium again: he came in third in Race 1 and ended the season in fourth place in the overall rankings, the same position held by Aprilia in the manufacturer’s classification.

In the end, the Aprilia RSV4’s list of awards for the 2009 season include one victory (Biaggi at Brno 1) and nine podium positions (Biaggi at Qatar 1 and 2, Donington 1, Brno 2, Imola 1, Magny Cours 1 and 2 and Portimao 1; Simoncelli at Imola 2). The seven first row positions should also be added to these results (six for Biaggi and one for Nakano, with both of the RSV4s in the first row at Donington), the track record at Brno and the record for the fastest speed ever recorded by a Superbike during a race, reaching 329 km/h at Monza.

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OUTSTANDING SEASON RIDING FOR APRILIA IN DUBAI

Mandela Bay international racer Arushen Moodley has returned from Dubai with six wins from six starts under his belt. Competing at the Dubai Autodrome on the new Aprilia RSV4 for the Duseja Aprilia Team, Moodley has not been beaten yet in the Dubai Championship (10 events).

Here, the young champion tells of his trip:
“I knew this was going to be a tough race weekend, Scott Smart went to get some trick suspension bits from the UK so he was determined to win. Thursday’s practice went great. The Aprilia RSV4 and myself were in harmony and we were fastest in all the practice sessions by almost 1,5seconds. We are only allowed two sets of new tyres for the weekend, so I opted to use one for practice and the other for qualifying and both races.

Qualifying on Friday morning was great. I was 1,8seconds faster than Scott Smart, so I was quietly confident. In race one, the RSV4 was first off the start and first into turn one. I had Scott breathing down my neck – he somehow found a lot of pace and was matching my times lap for lap. I concentrated hard on putting in a few good laps and eventually just managed to hold him off to the chequered flag. Race two for sure was going to be an epic battle between myself and Scott. He saved his new tyres for the second race and I had to use the same tyres I used in race one. Another hole-shot into turn one – my Aprilia RSV4 was amazing off the start line.

I led for the first lap but then drama struck. My right hand ‘locked’ – I could not open my fingers to grab the brakes – I was devastated. How could this be happening – I’ve come all this way and now I’m not able to race because of some silly spasm in my hand? I had no choice but to pull into the pit garage. I could see the disappointment on the faces of my team. My team-mate Abdul Bin Laden’s personal trainer stretched my forearm and iced it which made it feel better. Lucky for me the race was red flagged due to a crash. I quickly put on my helmet, hopped back onto my bike and lined up at the start line for a completely new race. Once again I got the perfect start and broke the record on the second lap. I was pushing very hard but mid-race my tyre was losing grip and I started to fall back into the hands of the chasing Scott Smart. He got past me on the third last lap – we swapped positions every lap but eventually going into the tight chicane I set him up, passed him and won.”

Arushen was full of praise for his technicians Dean Bosch from Port Elizabeth and “Eddie” for preparing his RSV4.

Watch the races on Youtube:
Round 3
Round 2

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SBK: TESTS END AT PHILLIP ISLAND

Phillip Island, 22 February 2010
A violent downpour of rain at dawn and the grey skies predict yet another day of tests to be discarded, but then the asphalt dries just a few minutes after the beginning of the turn, aided also by the mild temperatures, enough to allow the riders to run immediately and with excellent times. Sun, wind and heat are the conditions for the conclusion of the In Front Tests which precede the Australian round, the first one of the 2010 season. Michel Fabrizio has the best time on his Ducati with 1'31"650.
Eighth time for Biaggi with 1'32"474 at 0"824 behind his countryman. Max continued to work on developing his RSV4 in search of the best possible configuration to take on next weekend's races.

"I was hoping for better results - stated Biaggi - we are still having trouble on the disconnected asphalt where the bike doesn't behave as it should and it becomes difficult to tighten up on the berm. I'm not particularly happy, I was more confident, even the new tyres haven't given us any particular benefits. Now we will work toward the two races on Sunday, but it will certainly not be an easy competition".

"Today I was much better - Camier said - I felt more comfortable in Phillip Island's quick turns. We tried a lot of tyres and a lot of material, but we still need to improve the bike's configuration. There is still a lot of work to do before the race, partly on the bike, but a lot depends on me in that I still haven't learned the track well, I don't interpret it as well as I could and that means that I can't work efficiently".

SBK: FIRST DAY OF TESTS AT PHILLIP ISLAND

Phillip Island, 21 February 2010
A beautiful southern late summer day is the setting for the first day of In Front Tests on the Phillip Island track where Friday the 26th the first round of the 2010 SBK season will be held. The excellent weather conditions and the track allowed the riders and the teams to do their best work from the very start. At the end of the day Carlos Checa on Althea team's Ducati held the best time at 1'31"959.
Eighth for Biaggi with 1'32"832 at 0"832 behind the Spanish rider. Max concentrated his work on finding the best balance for his RSV4, also trying the new cam drive gear engine propulsion.
Twentieth place for Leon Camier with 1'33"852 at 1"893 off Checa's best time. The young English rider is making his debut here at Phillip Island, so he had to memorise the difficult Australian track whilst at the same time trying to find the best base setting to work on in anticipation of the race.

Compared to the races at the end of last year's season, the situation is a little bit different – stated Biaggi – this is a peculiar circuit where you have to be in good shape to stay up front. We are still suffering in the deceleration phase where we need to mitigate vibrations and skipping coming into the turns which hurts safety, and we need to do it with the materials which are available to us here. Tomorrow we will work on this, trying to resolve it as best as possible".

"It was a very intense day - Camier said - it was the first time for me here and I had to learn the track, which is not complicated to memorise, but it is really difficult to ride fast on straight away. I'm consistent enough, although the pace still needs to improve quite a bit, but I'm lacking in the single lap which is very important for the qualifiers since a good position on the grid will help me run a good race. Considering that this is the first day, I'm at a good starting point. I'm sure that there is still a lot of work to do but I'm very confident".

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