VOL. 52 ISSUE 4 JANUARY 27, 2015 P95
to Ducati over the winter. And it didn't stop
there as Aprilia also lost its 2013 champion-
ship runner-up rider Eugene Laverty to Suzuki,
thanks to a contractual miscue that saw him
replaced by Marco Melandri. It was initially felt
that Sylvain Guintoli, who was third in the 2013
points behind Laverty, would struggle to beat
the pint-sized former 250cc World Champion.
But in fact it was quite the opposite, with Guin-
toli taking victory in the opening round in Phillip
Island, as Melandri struggled to come to terms
with a fast but flighty bike that self-evidently wasn't
quite as easy to ride as he'd expected.
The success of Dall'Igna's replacement, Ro-
mano Albesiano—Head of Motorcycle Develop-
ment and Racing—in bringing the RSV4 back to
title-winning status was quite an achievement.
Aprilia won 11 of the 24 races in 2014 (Guintoli five
We take
Aprilia's World
Champion
Superbike for
a spin around
Mugello.
