200TH VICTORY FOR APRILIA
16 July 2006 - Aprilia

Mattia Pasini earned Aprilia its 200th victory at the German Gp, the 10th engagement of the 2006 international 125.

The rider from Riccione was able to regulate the competition that was anything other than easy with riders the likes of teammate Alvaro Bautista from Master Aspar Team and Lukas Pesek atop a Derbi.

Mattia’s success brought Noale’s coat of arms even higher today as they celebrate this important milestone.

Scrolling through the brand’s history, you can experience the different phases of Italian and international motorcycling. The first victory came from Loris Reaggiani at the San Marino GP on August 30, 1987 and the 50th came from Maxi Biaggi on July 21, 1996 at Donington (both in the 250). The 100th victory came from another huge rider, possibly the biggest champion currently in international motorcycling. We are talking about Valentino Rossi who won in South Africa on the Welkom track on October 10, 1999. It may seem like a coincidence, but just as the 200th victory came in Germany, the 150th came from a German rider, Steve Jenkner, who climbed atop the highest podium on June 28, 2003 in the 125 race in Holland.

Of the riders we have already mentioned that made history for the production house (aside from Valentino Rossi who won 26 times atop an Aprilia and Max Biaggi who had 23 victories), there was also Tetsuya Harada (11 victories), Marco Melandri (10 victories), Roberto Locatelli (9 victories), Hector Barbera (7 victories), and Manuel Poggialia and Jorge Lorenzo, winning five times each. Yet also included in the list of winners atop motorcycles from the Aprilia racing division are names the likes of Loris Capirossi, Alex Gramigni, Pierfrancesco Chili, and Marco Simoncelli.

The Director of the Aprilia Brand, Leo Francesco Mercanti, confirmed the success: “It is a day of celebration for the entire Aprilia staff that has always worked with the objective of putting an excellent Italian product on the track at the highest levels of competition, including the international realm. We are proud to be here and enjoy this moment that will always motivate us as we continue to make Aprilia a school of champions that has allowed stars to emerge and conquer the highest level of the sport in our nearly twenty years of victory”.

With this affirmation, Aprilia remains the leader with 228 international points in the constructors’ category and Bautista maintains his lead in the riders’ classification with 205 points, 64 ahead of the rider in 2nd place.

It was 1985 when the Aprilia adventure in the motomondiale began. At the time, you only needed about 120,000 lire to put a 250 onto the track. Two years later – August 30, 1987 at the Misano circuit – Loris Reaggiani won the first international race in the history of the Noale production house atop a twin-engine Aprilia 250.

Another piece of history was added with Aprilia’s 200th affirmation in the motomondiale thanks to the victory of Mattia Pasini from Master Aspar Team on the Sachsenring circuit in the 10th Gp of the 2006 season.

From that victory 19 years ago, many riders have passed through the school of champions that Aprilia has become. They include the protagonists of the past who raced and won atop Aprilias and those who continue to do so today.

www.aprilia.com

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