RACER TEST
P70
APRILIA RSV4 WORLD SUPERBIKE
We rode Eugene Laverty's factory Aprilia, but it was decked out in Max Biaggi livery – for obvious reasons.
Fast forward to October, and
Aprilia's first post-season test at
Spain's Aragon Motorland track
- just two weeks after the Italian
firm clinched its pair of world titles at Magny-Cours, in France.
There on the factory RSV4 Superbike wearing Biaggi's numberthree bodywork (that I'd been invited to ride in the lunch break of
an intensive test day spent adapt-
ing the Aprilia to the new 17-inch
Pirelli spec tires that'll become
mandatory this year) were a pair
of protector bars to prevent the
front brake or clutch levers being
snagged in a first-corner tangle
such as so nearly cost Biaggi his
title back in February at Phillip Island. Nobody can accuse Aprilia
of not paying attention to detail…
In fact, the bike I was rid-
ing was actually Laverty's bike
wearing Biaggi bodywork for PR
purposes, a fact I was grateful for after riding with Biaggi's
scrunched-up riding position,
street-pattern gearshift, and ultra-hard suspension damping the
year prior. From riding Laverty's
bikes in the past, I know that his
preferred setup is something I
can live with, in spite of his be-
