20071001 - 20 - Aprilia OffRoad Bulletin

TWIN-CYLINDER
1st OCTOBER 2007
IS BETTER THAN MONO
SPORT BULLETTIN OF THE OFFROAD BUSINESS UNIT
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24TH SEPTEMBER 2007
BRITISH SUPERMOTO CHAMPIONSHIP
CHRISTIAN IDDON AND SXV 550 CHAMPIONSHIP!
Christian Iddon arrived at the world famous circuit of Silvertsone on a high being fresh
from his Italian GP win last weekend in Busca, Piedmonte. This superb circuit was hosting
the sixth and final round of the British Supermoto Championships with the Aprilia Factory
rider needing only 10 points from three races to clinch
the British Open and British Supermoto Championships.
After setting a time 1.5 seconds faster than his nearest
challenger Sam Warren, Iddon was in confident mood as
race day dawned dull but dry.
RACE 1 - With a lightening fast holshot, Warren took the
lead at turn one and began to pull away at a rate of
knots. Meanwhile, Championship challenger Matt
Winstanley was safely into second place with Iddon down
in 7th after getting blocked in at the first turn, Iddon
however was in no mood for sitting in the pack and was
working his way rapidly through the traffic with
impressive speed. With Warren pulling away, stunning the
crowd with the sheer pace his 450 engined - Aprilia VDB replica and Winstanley sitting very comfortably
some 5 seconds astern, Iddon hit disaster in the fastest chicane on the track and crashed heavily. Having
to run some 25 meters to catch his still-sliding bike, Iddon remounted in 17th position only to find fluid
leaking onto his rear tire as a result of his crash. Despite this huge handicap Iddon pressed on eventually
taking 13th at the flag. Warren scorched to an impressive and well deserved victory with a clear 7 seconds
between himself and Winstanley. Iddon had not got the points he needed for the title!
450 Class - With Championship leader Chris Hodgson discovering a blistering pace, unfortunately it was left
for the Aprilia trio of Ricky Higgs, Lee Jones and Keith Farmer to chase the North Easterner down to the
flag. This result kept the series still wide open and all to play for.
RACE 2 - With the results of race 1 determining the grid, race 2 saw Warren on pole and Iddon sitting way
back on the fourth row. Warren again took a superb holeshot
and led from turn one. Iddon however was undeterred by his
bad grid position and charged through the pack to take up
fourth at the end of lap one. Clearly fired up after his race
one crash and riding his number 2 bike, Iddon then put on a
display of riding which held the crowd spellbound. After riding
round the outside of Ady Smith and then Matt Winstanley on
one of the fastest turns of the very quick Silverstone Stowe
Circuit, he set about chasing down Warren and pegging back
his 5 second lead. Setting fastest lap after fastest lap he took
Warren 5 laps from the flag and stretched his lead to 3
seconds before taking the chequred flag for the race win and
the British Open Supermoto Championship. Warren brought his 450 home safely in second with Winstanley
third now unable to beat Iddon for the series win.
450 Class - This 450’s were almost a repeat of race one with the Aprilia unable to catch the flying Hodgson
This result almost sealed the destiny of the 450 class title and only a disaster for Hodgson could allow
Ricky Higgs to snatch the title form his grasp.
RACE 3 - With Iddon coming to the line in pole spot and as new 2007 British Open Supermoto Champion,
his was in ‘display’ mood and had only to confirm his second title of the day, that of British Supermoto
Overall Champion. This he did by coolly slotting into 4th place at turn one, and then turning on the style,
By the end of lap2 he had disposed of Smith, then Winstaley then finally Warren to pull away at the rate
of one second per lap to take the flag by 7 clear seconds and grab his second British crown.
Winstanley took second from 3 laps from the end after Sam Warren had literally worn his tire to nothing
due the extreme corner speeds he was using to keep his SXV 450 within sight of the two big bikes ahead of
him. Iddons fantastic results bring Aprilia UK their 4th national Supermoto title in only two years.
450 Class - Hodgson again took the flag first in this race to claim the British 450 title with Ricky Higgs and
Lee Jones chasing him all the way to the flag, both riding at and beyond the limit to catch the runaway
leader. Hodgson had found something extra on the day and nothing could be done about this by the 2 hard
charging Aprilia pilots.
FINAL STANDINGS - BRITISH SUPERMOTO CHAMPIONSHIP
OVERALL STANDING
1. CHRISTIAN IDDON
2. Matt Winstanley
3. Sam Warren
OPEN STANDING
1. CHRISTIAN IDDON
2. Matt Winstanley
3. Sam Warren
450 STANDING
1. Chris Hogdson
2. Ricky Higgs
3. Keith Farmer
4. Lee Jones
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24TH SEPTEMBER 2007
SPANISH SUPERMOTO CHAMPIONSHIP
¡ISRAEL ESCALERA ES CAMPEON DE ESPAÑA DE SUPERMOTARD S1!
Week end of success for the BQR team Espana in The track of Pastoriza. It was the last
round of the Spanish Supermoto Championship and
since the warm up session the two pilots had to face
some bad weather conditions: the fog was covering the sly and the
track was very wet and slippery.
Despite of that Israel Escalera, in S1 Class, and Nestor Jorge, in S2
Class, were able to reach the Superpole.
In the first S1 heat no problem for Israel and Nestor (yes, Jorge raced in
both the classes!) who took the head of the group and kept the position
till the end: first and second places.
In the second heat Nestor finished at first place and Israel, after a
unlucky fall, was able to take the points he needed to win the
Championship.
Nestor
Raced
also in S2Class
and he had no
difficulty to rule
all
his
opponent: in both the heats he passed as first
under the finish flag.
Unfortunately the coincidence of the races of the
Spanish National Championship and those of the
World Championship didn’t give me the
opportunity to win the National Championship.
“When I raced in Spain – said Jorge Nestor - I
always won in my class S2 and I tried to help Israel
in S1 to gain the crown. I hope that next year I will be able to race all the rounds and win the
classification”.
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24TH SEPTEMBER 2007
PAGANON AND APRILIA RXV DOMINATE THE FINALS OF THE AUSTRIAN CROSS
COUNTRY IN MATTIGHOFEN
Black for rage and red of shy: really this way, in ironic refer to the typical Aprilia OffRoad colors, we can
say to have made our orange opponents.
In the mother place of KTM, Mattighofen, Nicholas Paganon and his
RXV didn’t leave any doubt on who was the strongest of the race,
winning with more than 3 minutes and half on the second rider the
finals of the Austrian Cross Country Championship.
Very good performance of Niki Stelzmüller, in the same race, who
finished at the nineth place.
The day has been successful also for the great race of Andreas
Hengstberger in 4 Class (RXV 450) who literally dominated all the
opponents. This result brings him at the second place of the overall
standing, only 1 point after the winner!
Once again Andreas demonstrated the great potential of the v-twin Italian bike also in the non
professional races.
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24TH SEPTEMBER 2007
EUROPEAN SUPERMOTO CUP
KÖKI CONQUERS TWO EUROPEAN TROPHY!
György Kökényesi - alias “Köki” – was the starring at
the last race of the European Supermoto Cup. It has
been the hardest race of the season, where Köki has
to face all the pressure of his opponents.
The strong Hungarian pilot riding the SXV Replica Van Den Bosch
started from the first place in the starting grid, and from the
beginning took the head of the race that didn’t leave till the pass
under the finish flag.
With this result Köki definitely won the European Supermoto Cup!
And he also conquered the Supermoto Alpe Adria Cup!
In Tokod there has been a race of the Hungarian National Enduro
Championship: Bob “Murki” Pudor closed at the second place.
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1ST OCTOBER 2007
MERRIMAN IN THE LAST ROUND OF ITALIAN ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP
In the last round of the Italian Enduro Championship Stefan
merriman finished at seventh place overall, third in the 450
Class. The race was performed in Bobbio, near Milan, in a
very slippery track because the rain.
The Australian Champ rode a regular race suffering a bit the
slippery round especially in the extreme part.
In the Championship, Stefan concluded at the third place in
the International Class, and fourth in the Overall Class.
The Aprilia OffRoad Team was in Bobio only with Stefan
Meriman, because Nicolas Paganon was in France for the
national Enduro Championship: he reached a fifth place on
Saturday and a seventh place on Sunday in the E2 Class.
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24TH SEPTEMBER 2007
IN GERMANIA JEROME CAPOCLASSIFICA NON PUÒ GAREGGIARE E PERDE IL
TITOLO NAZIONALE
What should be the great event for Jerome Giraudo, we mean the winning of two German Supermoto
Championship at the end of a season who saw him beeing always the dominator, it has been a nightmare.
In the track of Freiburg, during the saturday’s practice, Jerome had a big crash landing from a jump in
the offroad segment.
Brought to the Hospital, he was dismitted after few hours
with the diagnosys of a ocular lesion.
On Sunday, after a qualify session he has niot the permission
to ride his bike by the Medical Staff.
Jerome needs to stop for two months after that the doctors
will decide if he need a surgical operation.
All the Aprilia OffRoad Team encourages Jerome in these
particular days and wants to see him again on track in a
short time.
The forfait of Jerome in the last round of the German
Supermoto Championship leave the field to the opponents,
who gained thos points necessari to overtake the leadership
of Giraudo both in S1 and S2 class.
A very good Manoilito Welink closed the Championship at the head of the Overall Standing, but ‘cause a
less number of victories had to leave the crown of the Champ and to stay at the second place.
Jerome closed the german season at the second place in S1 and at the third place in S2.
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1ST OCTOBER 2007
SUPERMOTO: TWO APRILIAS ATOP THE 'NAZIONI' PODIUM WITH VAN DEN BOSCH
IN FIRST (FRANCE) AND IDDON IN THIRD (GREAT BRITAIN)
With just one trial left until the conclusion of the FIM Supermoto World Championships, the best riders of
the international scene found themselves at Franciacorta’s “Daniel
Bonara” Autodrome on September 29-30th to give life to the 5th
edition of the "Supermoto delle Nazioni".
The competition included 20 teams that represented their
respective nations. Team Aprilia Off Road was called up to support
two of their official riders: Thierry Van Den Bosch for France and
Christian Iddon for Great Britain.
Both riders participated in the Open
class atop Aprilia SXV 5.5s, finding
themselves in direct competition
during the race.
During Saturday’s qualifications for the Open round, Iddon took off in
command but was tailed by Van Den Bosch who immediately attacked the
Englishman. Both were victims of a collision that was worse for VDB (who
ended up on the ground). As a result, he fractured the 4th metacarpus of
his left hand.
The doctors of the Mobile Clinic treated Van Den Bosch for pain on Sunday
morning, allowing him to race and become the splendid protagonist of
Race 2 (S2 and Open) in which he beat the Italian Davide Gozzini (Tm) and
the Belgian Gerald Delepine (Husqvarna). In Race 3 (S1 and Open), he was
called upon by the French team at the halfway point of the grid and
carried out a great comeback that saw him finish 4th and lead France to
success in the Supermoto delle Nazioni.
Also atop the podium was Christian Iddon’s Aprilia SXV 5.5 as he and Great
Britain finished in 3rd place overall thanks to his two 6th places in as many heats, notwithstanding a fall in
the final fraction.
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1ST OCTOBER 2007
GOOD RESULT OF VINCENZO LOMBARDO IN ENDURO SICILY
In Letojanni (Sicily) the Sicily Enduro Championship raced its last round, in a very nice day and a very good
track in the sand near the sea.
Vincenzo Lombardo, riding the RXV, demonstrated his great ability and the reliability of his twin bike
winning the race.
Thanks to this result the Team Motopiù rider confirmed his second position at the end of the
Championship, and even gaining points each race, he wasn’t able to reach the winner crown for only two
points. What he misses is the points of the second round where he didn’t participate ‘cause of an injury.
Damiano Civello, the other rider of Team Motopiù, constantly classified within the first ten riders each
race and finished the season at the eighgts place overall and at the second place of his cathegory (over
500).
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24TH SEPTEMBER 2007
TUSCANIAN SUPERMOTO CHAMPIONSH
GHIGO VALENTINI WINS THE TITLE ON AN SXV 550
The fifth round concluded the season 2008 of the
Tuscanian Supermoto Championship, charaterized
by nice and citizen circuits with the participation
of al lot of public.
Tha last race has been well prepared by the experience of Team
4.5 Florence, leaded by Carlo Lorenzetti, and saw the vitory of
Luca Minutilli (with the Aprilia SXV Replica Van Den Bosch).
At the second place finished Pierluigi “Ghigo” Valentini, who
collected the right points to win the Tuscanian Supermoto
Championship in the Prestige Class. Congratulations to the new Champion, who is also the official dealer
of Aprilia OffRoad bikes in Firenze.
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1ST OCTOBER 2007
REGIONAL ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP IN EMILIA-ROMAGNA (ITALY)
At Castelnuovo Monti, near Reggio Emilia, there has been a race of the Regional Enduro Championship of
Emilia Romagna (center of Italy): Alessandro Vaccari, with a RXV 450 – supported by the Aprilia Offroad
Dealer of Modena – finished the day at the third place in the Amatori Class, while Paolo Ceci concluded at
the fourth place in the 250-450 4T Class.
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1ST OCTOBER 2007
AMA SUPERMOTO: ATKINS WINS HIS FIRST NATIONAL, WHILE CARLSON STILL
LEADS CHAMPIONSHIP
While Team Aprilia Rip it energy fuel racing has pretty much owned the top spot of the AMA PPG
Supermoto Unlimited podium this season thanks to the signing of reigning
class champion Ben Carlson away from rival manufacturer KTM, team
boss Darryl Atkins finally got in on the fun himself at the Deshutes
County Expo Center in Redmond, OR.
This being the second seasons riding the Italian manufacturer’s twincylinder SXV550, including this year’s debut of the Factory Aprilia Rip It
Energy Racing squad, the gritty New Zealander broke through to claim
his first-career AMA triumph on Saturday night.
Atkins took maximum advantage of a
hectic opening lap, taking control of
the race when Carlson got caught up in an opening corner pile up,
which dropped them well down the order as the 10-lap contest was just
getting started.
Atkins led every lap and pulled away to a 5.977-second margin of
victory.
The excited New Zealander remarked, “This track was great, I just did
what I needed to keep increasing the gap over the rest of the field.
Today went really well for me, 1st in our Qualifying group, 1st in the heat and 1st in the final.
“This is the first year for the factory Aprilia Rip It Energy Fuel program here in AMA Supermoto and this
bike has really been phenomenal and the support we’ve gotten from the sponsors Aprilia, Rip It Energy
Fuel, Bel-Ray oils, Parts Unlimited, Groove wines etc has been just incredible. Ben has a nice lead in the
Championship and now I have moved into 2nd so things look good”
Carlson went down on the first lap and rode from 12th to 5th in the 10 lap race. “ I just lost the front end
going into a right hand turn, the track temperature changed a lot from the heats to the final as the sun
started to set. I was happy to be able to come back and get some good points to keep my championship
lead healthy”
Immediately after the Unlimited final Carlson jumped on his 450 and rode from 12th to 7th in the 15 lap
final event.
Both riders were quick to Thank the rest of the Team (Amauri Nunes, John Weiss & Todd Carlson),
knowing all their hard work is making these results possible.
Carlson will look to bounce back to his winning ways while Atkins will hope to add a second career win
when the series picks back up in a little over a month in Galveston, TX on November 3-4.
AMA UNLIMITED STANDING
1. Ben Carlson (Aprilia) – 163 punti
2. Darryl Atkins (Aprilia) – 123 punti
AMA TEAM STANDING
1. Factory Aprilia Rip it energy fuel racing