Aprilia

Racing

Despite being a relatively small company by global motorcycling standards, Aprilia is very active in motorcycle racing. It contests many formulae, including the FIM 125 cc World Championship, the FIM 250cc World Championship, the now-defunct FIM 500cc World Championship, and from 2002-2004 the FIM MotoGP World Championship.

Related Topics:
Motorcycle racing - FIM

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Aprilia Racing saw varying successes. They were extremely successful in the smaller categories, winning numerous races & championships in the 125 cc Grand Prix and 250 cc Grand Prix classes. However, their 500 cc Grand Prix bike was less competitive, and their MotoGP effort - dubbed the RS3 - was technically advanced but difficult to ride and performed poorly in the championship. The RS3 did, however, feature many advanced technologies either not seen or only being seen now in other MotoGP bikes - technologies including throttle by wire and pneumatic valve actuation systems.

Related Topics:
Grand Prix - RS3 - Throttle by wire - Pneumatic valve

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Aprilia also feature in the off-road racing world, with their 450cc V-Twin motocrosser producing respectable results (including race wins) in both off-road (Motocross) and on-road (Supermoto) categories.

Related Topics:
V-Twin - Motocross - Supermoto

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The company is also notable for choosing somewhat unpopular engine configurations. For example, they progressed with development of a V-Twin 500 cc Grand Prix bike when other teams were moving to V-Four configurations for better & more usable power outputs. Aprilia continued this trend, taking advantage of lighter minimum weights with the introduction of their RS3 MotoGP bike - featuring three cylinders in a Inline triple layout, the bike had the least number of cylinders on the Grand Prix paddock. Yamaha had gone ahead with an inline four layout, whilst Suzuki and Ducati went for (differently-designed) V-Four layouts. Honda took the idea even further, producing the championship-winning RC211V, powered by a V5 cylinder engine.

Related Topics:
V-Twin - V-Four - Inline triple - Yamaha - Inline four - Suzuki - Ducati - Honda - RC211V - V5

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Reference:

• Aprilia Company History. Retrieved Oct. 25th, 2003 from http://www.aprilia.com/portale/eng/company04.phtml