Max Biaggi's World Champion Aprilia RS250V
By Alan Cathcart
Phot os by Kyoichi Nakam ura
T
en years of fighting against
th e odds in trying to defeat
the ir bigger, better -funded
Jap an ese ri vals to wi n th e
250 Worl d Cha mpions hip,
fin ally paid off for Aprilia in 1994.
Retu rning to the Ital ia n factory 's
Chesterfiel d -backed te am a fte r a
year's abse nce racin g with Hond a,
p ro digal so n Max Biaggi di d th e
b usi ness, clin ch in g Aprili a 's firs t
world title in the class they began
road racing in a decad e ago . In a
n a il-bitin g fin al e a t Barce lona,
Mad Max single-hande dly defeated the Ho nda hordes to lock u p a
cro w n th at A p ri lia h a s b e en
threateni ng to win for the last
tw o years. Tha nks to six years
of patien t developme nt by the
60 -st rong race d e p a rtmen t,
headed by Dutch engi neering
guru Jan Witteveen and canny
team manager Carlo Pemat - the
man wh o talent-spotted Biaggi when he
was jus t a snotty-nosed headbanger racing 125 prod uctio n bikes - a privat ely
owned factor y producin g jus t 119,000
bikes a yea r (including the 11,000 Fu nduros th ey built la st yea r for BMW )
defeat ed a Japanese giant 20 time s bigger. The late Soichiro Honda - "Honda-
(Above)
Alan Cathc art rides
Ap rilia's Wor ld
Championship-winning
RS250V at Valle lunga in Italy .
