Motorcycles and news

Wet weather all weekend made conditions extremely challenging for bike setup and for the riders themselves.  However, nothing could deter from the bright outlook of the Aprilia Pacifico Team.  During Friday’s practice the team looked shap and poised for positive results.

“Some quality time building and tuning prior to this race meant that we had a good package in our hands at the start of the event,” explained rider and team owner, Darryl Atkins.  “We made significant chassis changes, after visiting the Aprilia racing facilities in Noale and Verjata that really worked with my riding style. The machine was turning and handling better than evereven in the slippery conditions.”

As the skies opened up during practice and would remain that way all weekend, crowds of fans ended up taking shelter under the big Aprilia canopy.

A few laps into the practice a landing on the unforgiving middle Urban Cross section and the chain was caught breaking a tooth on second gear of the 550. “This was a big disappointment as the prior laps on the bikes were very promisingthe power delivery, strength, handlingeverything was there,” said Atkins.

The team was faced with a seemingly insurmountable challenge on race day with a very short time remaining to swap to a back-up motor.  Team technicians, Ed Lozano and Amauri Nenes went to work along with help from local Aprilia Dealer, Corse Superbikes who offered up valuable dyno time the morning of the race.  Qualifying sessions started soon after the rains ended and Atkins, despite adverse conditions and underpowered, managed to qualify 7th out of 24.

However, in the race, being down on horsepower really hurt on the start and Atkins was swallowed up by the pack. As the Race progressed it was clear that despite the Herculean efforts of the team, it would not be enough and Atkins decided to withdraw from the race in 22nd position.

Atkins finished by saying, “I’m encouraged by the package we started with and the crew will be busy building two machines of equal capability for the upcoming round in Nashville, TN on October 14th. Despite poor results on the track this weekend, we’re happy to report that the public enthusiasm and support for the project continues, and fans still seek us out to take photographs and see the machine in person.”