APRILIA:

Just one week after the wonderful round held at Imola, the SBK returned to the track again, this time at the French circuit of Magny Cours. It was a cool, cloudy day and Michel Fabrizio turned in the best time at 1:38:770, ahead of Rea and his teammate Haga.

It was tenth place for Max Biaggi with a time of 1:39:834, finishing 1:064 behind the Ducati Factory. During his first experience on the French track, the Roman driver concentrated his work on the quest for the best set-up for his RSV4.

And Leon Camier, after Marco Simoncelli, is Shinya Nakano replacement, both at Magny Cours and in the next round at Portimao. The twenty-three year old English driver, fresh from his 2009 BSB National Championship victory, made the most of his two trial rounds in order to familiarize himself and gain confidence with the RSV4, which he had never driven before, as well as with the trans-Alpine track. In the end, he managed to place seventeenth with a time of 1:40:103, 1:333 behind Fabrizio.

“We still have a lot of work to do to in order to succeed in doing better,” said Biaggi. “There’s a portion of the track where we’re still losing a lot of time and this really penalizes us. We still have to adjust the suspension and the management of the electronics, obviously never having raced here complicates the work to be done, such as the tuning of the engine and the gears. We’ll need a little time. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

“I’m very happy,” said Camier. “At the beginning of this experience, I didn’t know what to expect, given that I had never driven this motorcycle, now I realize that the RSV4’s potential is impressive. Now we’re working to find the best alignment for my driving style and I still need some time to improve my feeling with the bike and with the track, but I’m sure I’ll be able to do well this weekend.”