Aprilia gears up for title celebrations at Noale
Just a couple of weeks after the Magny-Cours weekend, which saw Max Biaggi and Aprilia crowned as 2012 SBK champions, Max's sixth and Aprilia's 51st titles will be celebrated at Noale in north-east Italy.
On Thursday evening in Piazza Castello, the heart of Noale, the entire Aprilia Racing Team will meet the population of Noale and their fans to celebrate victory in the Riders' and Manufacturers' championships. In addition to music and light entertainment, the guests of honour will be world champion Max Biaggi and his team-mate Eugene Laverty.
Aprilia's victories in World Superbike this year have helped to make the Veneto-based firm unique in motor sport history. Aprilia is in fact the most successful Italian and European company currently involved in racing, having taken a total of 51 world titles in all forms of racing: 38 in GP racing (20 in 125 and 18 in 250), 4 in Superbike (2010 and 2012 Riders and Manufacturers), 9 in off-road disciplines (7 in Supermoto and 2 in Trial).
These wins also take the total number of world titles held by Piaggio Group companies to 101, because in addition to Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Gilera and Derbi have also scored 50 world titles in their long and prestigious history. In GP racing Aprilia has won 294 races and 28 in Superbike (with 67 more podiums).
Aprilia's history is relatively short, its debut in GP racing only coming in 1985 in 250 and in 1987 in 125. The first wins came in 1987 (250 at Misano with Loris Reggiani) and in 1991 in 125 with Alessandro Gramigni who, in 1992, became Aprilia's first 125 title winner.
But above all Aprilia Racing has since the start been an incredible nursery of talent. The following riders, who have made up the history of bike racing over the past decade, made their debut, raced and won with Aprilia bikes. These include Max Biaggi (three-time 250 winner with Aprilia from 1994 to 1996, Loris Capirossi (250 world champion in 1998), Valentino Rossi (125 champion in 1997 and 250 champion in 1999), Jorge Lorenzo (250 champion in 2006 and 2007), Casey Stoner (250 runner-up in 2005), together with Manuel Poggiali, Marco Simoncelli, Alvaro Bautista and Kazuto Sakata.
