VOL. 52 ISSUE 21 MAY 27, 2015 P99
celeration, and the sweet-action
powershifter let me shift up from
bottom gear to second once per
lap very smoothly, without any
clunk as I went through neutral.
The new Aprilia's reduced
center of gravity with the engine
mounted 5mm lower may help it
eat up bumps on the angle even
better, except thanks to Misano's
ultra-smooth MotoGP-ready new
track surface there weren't any
to try that out on. So I can't really
comment on the bike's suspen-
sion other than to say the rear
end laid down that extra power
and torque imperiously well,
once I'd worked my way down
the TC settings in successive
sessions from level five to level
two. I tried level one, but it was
pretty squirrelly, and though
the combination of the forgiving
Pirelli rubber and the respon-
sive, confidence inspiring nature
of the Aprilia's handling made it
easy to control a slide when it
happened, I was losing time as I
did so.
But the steering was sub-
lime through the fast turn one/
two flip-flop, and it's light and
positive at low speeds into a
You still have to use the
clutch when downshifting
on the Aprilia, which is
a strange performance
omission when Aprilia
themselves say they
currently have the
technology available.
