APRILIA AND LORENZO IN POLE POSITIONS
25 March 2006 - Aprilia

Jorge Lorenzo (Fortuna Aprilia) brought Aprilia a double pole position in the Spanish GP.

In front of his home crowd, the Iberian rider conquered the take-off in the first Gp of the year, repeating Mattia Pasini’s performance in the 125.

“We are starting the season in the best of ways – said Leo Francesco Mercanti, Director of the Aprilia Brand – a season in which Aprilia is engaged at the highest level whether in the 125 or the 250. It is an extraordinary push to reaffirm Aprilia’s role in the Motomondiale. Not only to place first in the classification, but also to be the “School of Champions” that sees their riders move on to the best brands year after year. The results of Lorenzo and Pasini’s trial (in the 125) and also those of De Angelis and Barbera fill us with confidence and confirm the goodness of the work we carried out during the winter months.”

Lorenzo marked the pole position in the 250 thanks to his 1’43.270, the fifth pole of his career. Notwithstanding the track conditions that were not entirely favorable (just like those of the last Irta tests on the same Andalusian track of Jerez), Jorge Lorenzo was the only rider to come close to the limit in this official session of tests.

In the first group there will also be Hector Barbera, Lorenzo’s teammate, who was able to mark the third best time with a 1’43.870. Hector, who reeled in the provisionary pole position yesterday, battled until the end of the last valid session to make it into the grid of the year’s first Gp but was distracted by a fall that broke his concentration.

In the second group with the fifth best time was Alex De Angelis of Team Master Aspar. The rider from San Marino had the right rhythm in order to fight for the victory but had to seek out a different setting during warm-ups in order to maximize his riding. Behind him was the surprising Antony West (Kiefer Racing) atop a standard RSV 250. The Australian rider stopped the chronometer only one second behind the pole-man Lorenzo and aimed himself at the podium in the first race of the year.

Also in the top ten were Alex Baldolini (Matteoni Racing) in 9th and Roberto Locatelli (Team Toth) in 10th.

The riders of the 250 will be on the track again for the first race of 2006 on the track at Jerez de la Frontera at 12:30.

www.aprilia.com

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