Milwaukee Aprilia World Superbike Team Debut at Jerez
Laverty returns with Aprilia for first outing at Spanish test
The Milwaukee World Superbike Team will take to the track today, the 21st of November for testing at Jerez, marking the much anticipated return of Eugene Laverty to WorldSBK. The team will run the Aprilia RSV4 for the first time over the next three days, as they look to lay the foundations for a strong 2017 campaign.
"My MotoGP™ racing season only finished a week ago, but I am already itching to get going with 2017 in WorldSBK,” said Laverty ahead of his return. “The RSV4 is the bike I remember most of my success on, and I got to sit on it for the first time last night, which felt like coming home. I'm already impressed by the preparations of SMR and Aprilia; to arrive at a test in November with the trucks and box prepped like a race weekend shows that the team are a very professional outfit and keen to get going. They are obviously very motivated and I am motivated to get winning again.”
Announced in the summer of 2016, the Aprilia factory-supported team marks the partnering of Aprilia Racing and the UK-based Shaun Muir Racing. Eugene Laverty and Lorenzo Savadori will saddle the Aprilias, with their targets set high for the 2017 season.
“It’s a new and exciting chapter for SMR to work with Aprilia Racing, and there is a lot of optimism about what we can achieve next year,” said Shaun Muir, Team Principle of Milwaukee Aprilia World Superbike Team. “We are not underestimating the size of the challenge ahead of us, but without a doubt we are looking forward to the challenge. This first test at Jerez is very important for us, and we need to integrate the Aprilia and SMR staff and form strong relationships. We also have two new riders to work with, and I think Eugene and Lorenzo will work really well together.”
For Lorenzo Savadori, 2017 will mark his second year in WorldSBK and with impressive results throughout the season, the pressure is on for the young Italian to consolidate his strong results.
“Everyone is excited for 2017 and to get strong results, and I am looking forward to working with my new crew chief and my new team,” said Savadori. “I am really excited to get on the bike again and use some new parts that I didn't try this year. It is really important that I find a good set-up with the bike for 2017, and we will try hard to work on that this week. I didn't test very much this year, so I am glad we have some time before next year to prepare.”
The Milwaukee Aprilia World Superbike Team will test from today until Wednesday 23rd November. With rain anticipated for the much of the week, Laverty finished by saying “I'm not too unhappy about the prospect of wet weather for the test, because I'd like to test the Pirelli wet tyres ahead of next year. There is some stiff competition for us in 2017 and some of them are at this test, so I'm keen to get out on track and see how we stack up against them."
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