february 26, 2013 - Aprilia

Aprilia dominates World SBK

There are two Aprilias out front on the first day of test sessions for the Australian Superbike weekend: Michel Fabrizio's private RSV4 and Eugene Laverty's number 58, while team mate Sylvain Guintoli ended the day in ninth place. The qualifying session had 13 riders packed into less than one second, an extremely tight ranking in terms of a single lap, but this shifts a bit where race pace is concerned. The Aprilia RSV4 bikes proved to be fast during all the sessions of the day and their competitiveness was also confirmed in the first Superpole of the 2013 World Superbike season. With a breathtaking lap using a race tyre instead of the specific qualifier, Eugene Laverty stopped the clock with the second best time (1’30.429) that earned him a spot on the front row tomorrow. Then Northern Irish rider came in ahead of Michel Fabrizio's RSV4 (Team Red Devils Roma), who has been having a top notch weekend. The first and long awaited round of the 2013 World SBK season was dominated by Aprilia, winning both races and placing a seal of superiority worthy of the reigning World Champion Team on the weekend. The victory in Race 1, which came at the end of an exciting comeback, was a reward for Sylvain Guintoli in his début race on the Italian bike. In Race 2 Guintoli and Laverty got away during the first laps, tailed by Marco Melandri and the two private Aprilia RSV4s ridden by Fabrizio and Davide Giugliano (Team Althea Racing) to take the top two steps of the podium in reverse position...

- Photogallery (12)