The Aprilia Racing Team’s riders Marco Melandri and Sylvain Guintoli are ready to take on the eighth round of the season, taking place this weekend at Portimao’s Autodromo Internactional do Algarve. The Portuguese venue is one of the riders’ favourite circuit and the factory Aprilia duo make no exception, as they both enjoy the fast and undulating layout of the track.

Fresh from the double podium scored two weekends ago at Misano, Melandri is aiming to carry the momentum into the Portuguese round knowing the RSV4 has always suited the track well in the past.

On the other side of the garage, Sylvain Guintoli hopes to turn the page on the difficult race day in Italy in order to challenge at the front once again and make some ground to the top.

Marco Melandri: “Portimao is without a doubt one of the most exciting tracks on the calendar. I like the up and downhill sections a lot, as well as the fast sweepers and I'm sure that my Aprilia RSV4 will be able to adapt very well to this track. After the Misano weekend I really want to improve even more and battle for the wins that I know my team and I are capable of”.

Sylvain Guintoli: “Portimao is a fantastic track. I have always had a lot of fun racing here and last year the feeling with my RSV4 on this track was really incredible, so much that I had two great races. I hope we'll be able to learn from our difficulties in Misano in order to set our sights on two good results this weekend”.