A fruitful weekend for the Aprilia Racing Team at Phillip island saw Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing) winning Race 2 to become the Championship leader after the opening round of the season. Guintoli also completed the podium of the first race after being in the lead for the most part, eventually losing ground in the late stages as he stressed the rear tyre a bit too much whilst trying to pull away.

Marco Melandri ended up second in race 1 after an exciting battle with team mate Guintoli, but did not manage to stay in contention for the win in the second race, as he ran wide at Turn 4 early on.

Sylvain Guintoli: “In Race 1 maybe I had a little too much faith. I started off strong and toward the end I lost the right feeling with my rear tyre. The conditions were much different than they had been over the last few days but we did a good job anyway. In the second race I tried to look after my tyre and it worked. If I think about everything that happened during the winter I can't help but be pleased with our weekend. I'm finally back on the top step of the podium. I want to thank the guys who looked after me during my recovery. I'm pretty tired now but I'll have a month to recover before the next round.”

Marco Melandri: “Race 1 went well. I got off to a good start and then I was able to ride smoothly in the first few laps to conserve the tyres for the end. Unfortunately after the halfway point the bike was sliding around a lot. I wasn't able to be incisive so when Eugene took the lead I preferred holding onto second place. In Race 2 I wanted to use the same tactics again but to overtake Rea I braked harder than usual and the rear wheel came up so I was forced to run on. I'm disappointed because I threw away some important points. I'm sure I still need more experience adjusting to the way the bike reacts and adapting the settings to my riding style. The track conditions also brought out some problems that I had never had before. Now I need to get a handle on the situation so that I'm ready for the next race.”