It looks like Paul Bird has changed his mind regarding Shane Byrne taking James Ellison’s place in the upcoming Le Mans GP as the PBM UK team has now confirmed that Ellison will be regularily taking his place on the grid next week.

It seemed that Bird wanted his BSB rider to give a second opinion on the severe chatter issues that Ellison has been lamenting on his Aprilia ART, but despite confirming faith in Ellison, the team doesn’t dismiss that in some later date either Byrne or Stuart Easton could test or even race the CRT bike.

PBM UK press release:

Following recent speculation regarding James Ellison’s participation in the 2012 MotoGP World Championship, the Paul Bird Motorsport Team (PBM UK) wishes to clarify that James will continue to race the CRT-specification Aprilia ART starting with the French Grand Prix at Le Mans on May 20th.

In order to assist with development with the project, the team considered utilising the services of another rider and whilst this remains an option either in future testing or in a race, the focus of the team will concentrate on James continuing to develop the machine in the forthcoming Grands Prix.

Phil Borley, Technical Director: “It was unfortunate that James didn’t finish the race in Estoril but he proved what the machine was capable of in Jerez. This is a long-term project and we have to look at all options available to us in achieving our goals, which both the team and James understand. Our concentration is now on getting the technical help we need and to make more progress at Le Mans and Catalunya.”

As required by MotoGP regulations, the two nominated test riders for the PBM UK team are confirmed as Shane Byrne and Stuart Easton.

Shane Byrne just took his first race win in the third British Superbike race at Oulton Park today and in two weeks time will find himself aboard an ART/CRT machine temporarily replacing James Ellison in the upcoming MotoGP race at Le Mans, according to several British websites.

Apparently team owner Paul Bird wants a second opinion on the severe chatter issues that Ellison has been struggling with.

The two-time British Superbike champion has already raced in MotoGP, but it was back in 2004 and 2005 with Aprilia (9 starts), Team Roberts on a KTM and then replaced Troy Bayliss for two races in Team Pons.

Source | bikesportnews.com

In 2011 Aprilia released new versions of its 50 and 125cc RS4 with Max Biaggi’s 2010 Alitalia livery. Since Alitalia (the company which has cost Italian taxpayers 3 billion euros, is still losing money and the CEO who was a former Piaggio manager, just got the boot) is no longer Aprilia’s World Superbike sponsor, so Aprilia has decided to update the paint job with this year’s livery and probably giving a nod to the fact that the Roman Emperor is currently leading the series after three rounds - by just one point.

This RS4 comes with Pirelli Diablo Rossi II tires, wavy discs, quickshifter and single seat cowl and the 125cc Biaggi SBK Replica costs £4,299, while the RS4 50 SBK Replica is priced at £3,099. Not bad for a teen dream.

Race 1 at Imola was marred by this particular accident on lap 2. Sylvain Guintoli who was highly tipped to take at least podium this past World Superbike weekend, instead ended up tangling with Leon Haslam at the Tamburello, the BMW rider got away safely and took a third place podium, while the Effenbert Liberty rider binned it taking out a hapless Chaz Davies.

Davies luckily didn’t re-injury himself - he skipped the season opener at Phillip Island with a fractured wrist - while the French rider had to take a trip to the medical centre where he was treated for some heavily bruised ribs. Davies finished race 2 in 14th, while Guintoli who was shot up with potent painkillers concluded in 11th.

Source | motoblog.it

Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi were once arch enemies, the fair haired kid with his mischevious antics that changed the face of racing against the glowering, sullen and villanous Black Corsair who took their hate of each from on track to off track and used the media to find followers and divide Italy into two fueding factions, like the Hatfields and McCoys, but more appropriately since they are Italians, the Capulets and the Montagues, the Guelphs and Ghibellines and so on.

The two were separated by a chain of events that saw Biaggi being ousted from the GP paddock and become a World Superbike hero, while his nemesis later changed steed and began struggling with an ornery red beast.

Biaggi previewing this weekend’s Imola round in an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport couldn’t resist talking about his old rival.

At the beginning of my career everything was going smoothly and then Valentino Rossi arrived and I became the bad guy. Our rivalry was taken outside the motorcycle racing world and away from passionate racing fans, but it was a mask, people who know me well know that I’m a different person.

Biaggi doesn’t believe that there will ever be a reconciliation between them and to prove it took a dig at Rossi: “We’ve never tried to clear up what happened. I was the devil, he was the smiling angel, now that things aren’t going so well he doesn’t joke around like before. And you get these thoughts: like he’s a flower that is losing his petals, while I’ve blossomed again..

Asked about the fact that many are arguing that his Aprilia is a MotoGP bike in disguise, Biaggi said, “In Australia I was pushed off at the first corner and I didn’t gain anything on Checa who was leading, Ducati is the reference, before accusing anyone they’d better look in their own home.” Biaggi is ready to take on Checa, “In 2010 I won, last season Checa won : We’ll see who’s better.”

While the Roman Emperor will be turning 41 this year and he doesn’t categorically exclude a return to MotoGP,
“I’m in Superbikes, this summer I’ll think about the future. If they try hard enough, I’ll think about it. Negotiations with Aprilia haven’t started yet: we haven’t spoken, because off track I’m not that fast.”

Source | omnicorse.it

Max Biaggi fans have never really gotten over the fact that their beloved Roman Emperor was exiled, banned, kicked out (chose whatever term you prefer) of MotoGP and despite their idol having won a World Superbike championship in the meantime and is always fighting for the lead in the WSBK standings, hasn’t squashed the crazy notion of some sort of revenge against the entire GP paddock.

Watching Biaggi’s former arch rival Valentino Rossi struggle on the GP12 during yesterday’s first day of testing at Jerez has given them immense satisfaction and and even more satisfaction seeing that Randy de Puniet on the Aprilia ART was a little more than a tenth of second from the Ducati factory rider and ahead of both Hector Barbera and Karel Abraham on the satellite Ducati’s.

These two factors haven given Biaggi fans the idea that he could really kick a lot of butts on the MotoGP grid if given one of Aspar’s CRT bikes, and want Aprilia to consider giving him a chance to ride at the Mugello GP in July as a wildcard, when the ART has undergone even further electronic development.

It’s a nice pipe dream, but we don’t think Gigi dall’Igna would ever allow Biaggi to wildcard especially if he’s fighting for the title, and the fact that the Italian GP is squeezed squarely between the Motorland Aragon and Brno Superbike rounds doesn’t help, but a MotoGP wildcard ride at the end of the WSBK season could satisfy everyone - including TV ratings, sponsors and give Italian journalists who are still divided in factions something to go crazy over - as their are four races left in the MotoGP season to chose from.

Jorge Lorenzo and James Ellison were the first riders to head out on track at Jerez just a few minutes ago for the final pre-season MotoGP test and the PBM (Paul Bird Motorsport) team revealed their 2012 red, white and blue livery on their ART machine for their debut season in MotoGP under the CRT rules.

Before the Aprilia World Superbike team went to Aragon for a two day private test, Max Biaggi and Eugene Laverty were in Miami as guests at the Piaggio Group Americas Dealer Convention where the Italian manufacturer announced their plans to open a new Advanced Design Center in Pasadena, Calif., to be headed by Aprilia RSV4 designer Miguel Galluzzi and also revealed that the 2012 liquid cooled version of the Guzzi California 1400, as well as their Aprilia SRV850 maxi-scooter, the Vespa 946, and Aprilia Caponord 1200 will be sold in the U.S.

Talking about the opening round, the two Aprilia riders who left Phillip Island in 1st and 13th in the standings had this to say:

“The season started in the best possible way, said Biaggi.We won Race 1 putting pressure on Carlos Checa and Ducati, pushing him into a mistake, while the comeback from last to second place in Race 2 was without a doubt one of the best performances of my career. That had never happened to me before. After the contact with Sykes in the first turn I didn’t think I’d be able to make it, but seeing the good times lap after lap, I gained confidence and pushed to the limit until the chequered flag came out. These are two results that paid us back for all the work we had done during the weekend and which give us high hopes, because when you start the season winning the atmosphere is positive”.

The feeling with the new team, headed up by Aligi Deganello, also seemed excellent: “If it’s true that ‘well begun is half done’, we are definitely off on the right foot. We established a good rapport right away with my new crew chief, Aligi Deganello, and with the mechanics, in spite of the little time we had to bring the new team together. It was important to understand right from the start what I needed and how the team would have to work to help me obtain it. The results of the first round give us confidence for the rest of the season”.

After the jump Eugene Laverty’s video, which doesn’t need a translation.

Yesterday evening at the Hotel Balneario de las Arenas in Valencia, Power Electronics Aspar Team officially presented Randy de Puniet and Aleix Espargaro and the 2012 race livery to the public (we already saw the new livery during the CRT test held at Aragon earlier this March) ahead of the official MotoGP IRTA test that starts this Friday at Jerez.

Aspar Martinez decided to run at CRT team after talks with Ducati fell through over the cost of their GP bikes (Ducati boss Filippo Preziosi has said that it is impossible for MotoGP prototype to cost around €1 million) and his choice fell on the ART (Aprilia RSV4 engine in an Aprilia protype chassis) which will allow him to field two riders this season.

“For myself and for the Power Electronics Aspar Team the CRT project is an exciting challenge.We had one rider in the premier-class before and now we have two, so I am delighted with this.The concept and regulations of the premier-class have changed a lot and there is a lot of future in MotoGP. Our tests have been excellent and we are highly motivated. I want to thank Power Electronics for the confidence that they have placed in this project. I also want to thank the other new sponsors: Vibo, Bel Ray and Crecs.” said the powerful manager, who also runs teams in Moto2 and Moto3 under different sponsors.

Randy de Puniet impressed with his lap times during a CRT test at Jerez - he was just 0.300s from Hector Barbera on the Ducati GP 12 - said, “I was really excited about the presentation of the new Power Electronics Aspar Team. We had the opportunity to see the new designs for the bike and leathers a while ago at Aragón and they are beautiful. What’s more, the presentation is in Valencia, the Aspar Team and Power Electronics are from Valencia and I feel at home here. The start of the season is fast approaching and I consider that we are ready to go. We only have the weekend test at Jerez to go, at which we will get a better idea of what awaits us at the opening race.”

Team mate Aleix Espargaro who is making the step back to MotoGP after spending a season in Moto2 on a Kalex with team Pons added, “I wanted to attend the Power Electronics Aspar Team presentation very much. The fact that we can afford to come along means that everything is in order and we are almost at the start of the season. The preseason seemed to fly by for me, so now I just want to get the final test over and done with and get to Qatar. I am really excited to be part of this new CRT project. I hope that both my teammate and I have a good season and that we fight to be the best CRT riders. It is great that the Aspar Team has a Valencian main sponsor.”

A while we talked about two brand new models from the Piaggio Group that were informally unveiled during a Dealer Meeting that took place in Montecarlo a few weeks back: the Moto Guzzi California 1400 and the Aprilia Caponord 1200. These two models should hit the showrooms next fall, but a few more sneaky pictures of the latter taken at a recent meeting with US and Canadian partners have just surfaced on the internet.

The Aprilia Caponord 1200 will take on one of the most competitive segment of the market, and - at a first glance - it seems to have all it takes to give the BMW R 1200 GS a run for its money. However, we will be waiting for more info about this model.

Photo | Aprilia Forum

The voiceover says:

Aprilia Racing is our school, the place where the spirit meets the passion of men and the search for intellect. Here we learned to follow our intuition to always search for new challenges and success. In Aprilia Racing the most important names in racing were born and raised in the history of modern motorcycle racing. With them we shared hopes, difficulties and victories, helping them write some of the most beautiful pages in the world of racing. Many ideas are breaths, but only one is the beat of our heart.

I admit I’m a pushover for historic style videos, and this magnificent six minute footage that shows the the history of Aprilia Racing almost brought tears to my eyes. It contains some of the images of their riders including Valentino Rossi, Alessandro Gramigni, Roberto Locatelli, Max Biaggi, Loris Capirossi, Marco Melandri, Marco Simoncelli, Manuel Poggiali, Jorge Lorenzo which is just to name a few that have left their mark with the Italian manufacturer.

We hope that you’ll enjoy the video as much as we did.

Today’s final day of testing for the four CRT teams at Aragon was hindered by cold air and track temperatures and some wind and the only lap times reported were for Avintia Racing riders Ivan Silva and Yonny Hernandez who did there best laps during the afternoon session.

Silva’s best lap was 1’53.373 while Hernandez posted a best time of 1’53.588 which would have placed them a little more four seconds off pace from last year’s best lap set by Casey Stoner (1′49.046) but in completely different weather conditions.

Power Electronics Aspar team, who revealed this new livery yesterday, had trouble getting their Bridgestone tires up to temperature during the morning session and in the afternoon session did a few laps with Randy dePuniet and Aleix Espagaro not risking taking their ART bikes to the limit, so the day was a more or less another washout.

James Ellison preferred to sit out the afternoon session after being caught out by cold track temperatures that caused him to highside, fortunately the PBM rider was unhurt.

The last official pre-season MotoGP test will be held at Jerez starting March 23rd.