Italian auto giant Piaggio honours Bollywood star John Abraham with the legendry Aprilia RSV4

Italian auto giant Piaggio honours Bollywood star John Abraham with the legendry Aprilia RSV4

Mumbai l 20^th September, 2013 – Piaggio Vehicles Private Limited takes this opportunity and grants Bollywood heartthrob and passionate biker John Abraham his wish of owning the legendary Aprilia RSV4, which has won 294 Grand Prix races at the Road Racing World Championship.

With this development, the passionate biker expands his sports bikes collection and gives his fans another chance to watch him zip around town, on the legendary Aprilia

Commenting on the occasion, a euphoric John Abraham said, “This is one of my best moments ever.  Aprilia RSV4 is a dream bike and I wanted to own one for quite some time. I thank Piaggio for handing me the phenomenal Aprilia RSV4, much sought after by several in the biking circuit!”

Mr. Ravi Chopra –Chairman and Managing Director, Piaggio Vehicles Private Limited said, “We, at Piaggio are glad to offer avid biker John Abraham this experience, which a true biker understands. Aprilia RSV4 has been a revolution on the global motor racing scene, and consistently takes the thrill of riding a notch higher. John Abraham being a bike aficionado himself is our personal favourite and we are happy that he becomes a proud owner of the Aprilia RSV4”

Aprilia is the reigning World Superbike Champion, the championship where it won the Rider and Manufacturer world titles in 2012. Aprilia motorcycles take to the track on international and local circuits, holding high the honour of Italian and European motorcycling. Aprilia successfully feeds the biker's desire to race and raise young riders destined to enter into the championship world.

Aprilia was born into racing and is the real sporty flagship brand for the Piaggio Group. With 294 Grand Prix races won in Road Racing World Championship; Aprilia holds the record for the most wins of any European manufacturer in the history of maximum motorcycle competition. These are joined by an impressive 51 world titles: 38 in Road Racing World Championship (20 in 125cc and 18 in 250cc), 4 in Superbike (Rider and Manufacturer double win in 2010 and 2012) and 9 in Off Road disciplines (7 in Supermoto and 2 in Trial)

About Piaggio Vehicles Private Limited (PVPL)

PVPL is a 100% subsidiary of Piaggio & C S.p.A of Italy, which is one of the global leaders in two-wheelers. Piaggio invented the Vespa in 1946 and later pioneered the apé, the three-wheeler in 1947. PVPL commenced its India operations in 1999 with the launch of apé, which became India’s favorite three-wheeler brand in a short span of time. apé vehicles are engineered for higher fuel efficiency, rugged performance and outstanding load carrying capability. Living up to Piaggio’s core philosophy, all PVPL vehicles conform to the most stringent quality and environmental standards and offer extraordinary value for money.   

With its unrivalled brand portfolio, the Piaggio Group boasts a total of 101 World Championship titles and more than 500 World Grand Prix victories.

Aprilia was born into racing and is the real sporty flagship brand for Piaggio Group.

With 294 Grand Prix races won in Road Racing World Championship, Aprilia holds the record for the most wins of any European manufacturer in the history of maximum motorcycle competition. These are joined by an impressive 51 world titles: 38 in Road Racing World Championship (20 in 125 and 18 in 250), 4 in Superbike (Rider and Manufacturer double win in 2010 and 2012) and 9 in Off Road disciplines (7 in Supermoto and 2 in Trial).

In December 2004 Aprilia becomes part of the Piaggio Group which, with the reorganisation of the Noale Racing Division, takes the Veneto-based brand to victories in World Championship Motorcycle Racing and broadens the horizons of sport activity: from the return to the off road discipline, world rally to the début – in 2009 – of the Aprilia RSV4 in World Superbike.

During the same period Aprilia has also accumulated a countless collection of European and national titles. Every weekend, all over the world, Aprilia motorcycles take to the track on international and local circuits, holding high the honour of Italian and European motorcycling, feeding the biker's desire to race and raising up young riders destined to enter into the world championship world.

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APRILIA RACING HISTORY

Aprilia is the reigning champion brand in Superbike, the championship where it won the Rider and Manufacturer world titles in 2012.

Aprilia begins manufacturing motorcycles at the end of the 60's and already in 1970 produces a motocross "fifty" which would evolve into a 125, until arriving at the first competition motocross bike in the mid 70's.

After the début in the Motocross sport in 1975, Aprilia enters World Championship Motorcycle Racing to challenge the unbeatable Japanese in the extremely competitive 250 class. The year is 1985 and the first bike has an alloy aluminium dual beam frame paired with a Marzocchi fork and a rear mono-shock mounted on a pro lever type suspension. Its motor is a two cylinder 2T Rotax with horizontally placed cylinders. In its début on 23 March 1985 in Kyalami South Africa Loris Reggiani finishes 12th. For the rest of the championship the bike performs so well that Reggiani takes the bottom step of the podium (third place) at Rijeka and then again at Imola.

In 1987 the Aprilia 250 rises quickly to the top. A new chassis and engine advancements take it to second place (Salzburg and Rijeka). Victory is within reach and, in fact, comes at Misano. The date is 30 August 1987 and Reggiani rides his AF1 250 to its first success in a Gran Prix race.

In 1988 Aprilia begins in the 125 class and immediately, in the French GP, achieves its first podium in the eighth-litre category.

A few seasons later, hungry for results, the Aprilia 250 changes radically starting with its name: the RS250V is born for the 1991 season and the new bike immediately proves to be an exceptional machine. Victory arrives with Chili on the Assen track, immediately replicated by Reggiani at the Paul Ricard. And then a great talent explodes: Max Biaggi wins the European 250 championship.

1991 also brings the first victory in the 125 class for Aprilia: Alessandro Gramigni wins in Czechoslovakia.

In 1992 the first Aprilia title in World Championship Motorcycle Racing arrives: Alex Gramigni is 125 World Champion. And so the 250 is solidly at the top: Chili wins at Hockenheim, Assen and Donington, Reggiani at Jerez and Magny Cours, while the rookie, Biaggi, wins his first GP at Kyalami. Aprilia also wins two world championships in offroad: Tommy Avhala is crowned World Trial Champion with the Aprilia Climber and Aprilia is Manufacturer Champion. After a 1993 in which both the 250 and 125 bikes confirm their competitiveness but just barely miss the title, the year of praises arrives: it's 1994 when Max Biaggi wins in Australia, Malaysia, Holland, the Czech Republic and Barcellona to become 250 Class World Champion on an Aprilia.

In the same year Kazuto Sakata is World Champion on his Aprilia 125: he wins in Australia, Spain and the Czech Republic. Aprilia also collects eight pole positions and nine fastest race laps. Aprilia also makes its début in the 500 class with Reggiani riding an extremely agile two cylinder: an innovative choice in classic Aprilia tradition.

In the 1995 season Biaggi and Aprilia are unstoppable: Malaysia, Germany, Italy, Holland, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Argentina and Europe bring the season victories which take Max Biaggi to confirmation of his status as World Champion and Aprilia to its first Manufacturer title. Sakata, on the other hand, is unable to repeat the performance in the 125 class and closes out the season in second place: Aprilia wins three times anyway, in Great Britain and the Czech Republic with the World Champion and the third time – in Brazil – with Masaki Tokudome. In the 500 class the two cylinder takes several steps forward, enough for Reggiani to end 10th in front of several official four cylinders.

In 1996 Max Biaggi is three-time champion: Malaysia, Japan, Spain, Italy, France, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Catalonia and Australia are the stops along a triumphant road which leads Biaggi to the third consecutive world championship. And the manufacturer title arrives thanks to Tokudome's victories in Indonesia, Japan, Germany and San Marino, Perugini in Malaysia and Great Britain, a very young Valentino Rossi in the Czech Republic, Oettl in Italy and Gary McCoy in Australia.

In 1997 Aprilia wins two more World Championships: 125 class Rider and Manufacturer. The new colours bearer is Valentino Rossi who literally dominates the smallest class, taking 11 victories in 15 races: Malaysia, Spain, Italy, Austria, France, Holland, San Marino, Germany, Brazil, Great Britain, Catalonia and Indonesia.

The 1998 season is a triumph for Aprilia who, in the 250 class, wins 13 of the 14 GP races, leaving only the opening race in Japan to the competition. Loris Capirossi wins the Rider championship. The superiority of the Aprilia 250 has been such that its riders have taken all three steps on the podium four times. Aprilia also wins the 250 World Manufacturer Championship with a large gap.

In the 125 class Kazuto Sakata wins the Rider Championship thanks to a season of dominance in Great Britain, France, Spain and Japan.

1999 is the year of Valentino Rossi who wins the 250 title astride a fabulous two cylinder Aprilia RSW, winning on 9 occasions. Behind Rossi the Aprilia "customers" also shine with Battaini, Waldmann, McWilliams and Lucchi. Thanks also to them, Aprilia makes it a double win with the Manufacturer Championship. The bold two cylinder 500 project has a moment of great brilliance at Donington: Harada comes as close as ever to victory after the podium that Paul Ricard wins, and the fourth places from Mugello (where he had taken pole position) and Catalonia. 1999 is also the year for Aprilia's début in the SBK championship. With the two cylinder RSV Mille the Veneto-based manufacturer establishes itself for the first time with the great 4 stroke competition bikes. Consecration arrives in 2000: participating for the first time in Superbike with an official team, Aprilia astonishes: Troy Corser takes five victories and four Superpoles, just missing the title. In the World Motorcycle Racing Championship the triumphs continue: Roberto Locatelli is World Champion in the 125 class for the fifteenth world title in Aprilia history.

In 2001 SBK also brings great satisfaction with three victories (two for Corser and one for Laconi), eight podiums and three Superpoles. It is an interlocutory year in the World Motorcycle Racing Championship: in the 250 class Aprilia takes five victories while only two come in the 125 class (Cecchinello in Catalonia and Sanna in Germany).

But in 2002 the comeback is ready: Aprilia bankrupts the World Motorcycle Racing Championship with an extraordinary four of a kind comprised of 4 wreaths: two world manufacturer titles in the 125 and 250 classes and two rider titles in 250 with Marco Melandri and 125 with Arnaud Vincent. The eighth-litre Aprilias win 8 of the 16 races on the schedule, but it is in the 250 class that their supremacy is absolutely crushing. The fourth-litres from Noale win 14 of the 16 races. 2002 is also the year of the three cylinder RS Cube début which Aprilia introduces in the brand new regina MotoGP class.

In 2003 Aprilia wins three titles: 125 Manufacturer (with 10 wins), 250 Rider (a resounding Manuel Poggiali wins the championship in his début) and 250 Manufacturer (thanks to 14 victories). The MotoGP season is more troubled: the RS Cube makes a fine début in the hands of Colin Edwards and Nori Haga, takes a fastest race lap time during the French GP and shows encouraging performance; then comes a dark period which fades only toward the end.

2004 and 2005 are two transitional seasons which see Aprilia's return in off-road. The Noale Racing Division also pours its skill into Motocross, Enduro and Supermotard: the revolutionary Aprilia two cylinder engine takes Jerome Giraudo to the historic world champion title in the S2 category. The Manufacturer championship title arrives from the 125 MotoGP championship.

Thanks to becoming part of the Piaggio Group and the reorganisation of the Racing Division, Aprilia has its record season in 2006, winning six world championships: the young Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo (in the 250 class) and Alvaro Bautista (in 125) win the Rider title and ride their bikes to a double wreath in the Manufacturer standings.

Two World Supermoto titles are added (S2) to the MotoGP four-of-a-kind: Frenchman Van Den Bosch is World Champion and Aprilia wins the Manufacturer championship.

And the next season (2007) is a repeat with five championships: the Manufacturer titles in 125 and 250 are joined by Lorenzo's wreaths in 250 and Hungarian Gabor Talmacsi's in 125. The S2 Manufacturer title arrives from World Supermoto.

Two more titles from MotoGP in 2008: the Manufacturer wreaths in 125 and 250 bear witness to Aprilia's domination in the youngest classes of the world championship.

But a revolution is just around the corner and in 2009 Aprilia's most ambitious project yet begins. Simultaneously with the launch of the RSV4 on the market, a revolutionary supersport bike, characterised by an extremely advanced 1000 cc, 4 cylinder 60° V engine, Aprilia Racing plans its return to the World Superbike championship. The rider Aprilia chooses for the project is Max Biaggi whose return to Noale comes twelve years after his last title in the 250 class, with Shinja Nakano riding alongside him. The first year shows continuous growth for the bike and the first victory comes on the track at Brno. Eight more podiums are added to that victory to confirm the quality of the project and the skills of the rider. 3 world titles arrive from MotoGP: the 125 rider title with Spaniard Julian Simon Simon and the manufacturer title both in 125 and 250. In 2009 the first results for the two cylinder RXV 4.5 also arrive, a bike which Aprilia uses in the great raids of the Rally world: in the Pharaoh's Rally Paolo Ceci takes the victory in the 450 class and Aprilia ends with a solid fourth place, racing against bikes with much larger engines. It is the prologue for the Aprilia RXV 4.5's introduction to the Dakar 2010. In the most famous and gruelling of the off-road races, Aprilia RXV takes an incredible third place with Chilean Francisco Lopez (winner of three rounds) and dominates in the 450 SP class with Paolo Ceci.

But in 2010 the masterpiece is achieved in WSBK: the Aprilia Alitalia RSV4 and Max Biaggi, beginning the season with every intention of continuing the growth trend from the previous year, quickly find themselves battling at the top. Double victories come at Portimao and Monza. Placements on the podium also arrive for Leon Camier, the young Brit riding alongside Biaggi, who contributes to the Aprilia leadership in the Manufacturer rankings.

The American triumph on the Miller Raceway track launches Biaggi to the front of the standings. This is a position that in no way intimidates the already four-time World Champion and the double victories are repeated at Misano and Brno. Only the Brit, Haslam, tries to hold off Max and his red, white and green Aprilia – which takes the big Alitalia "A" to the top of a motorcycle championship – but the match ends at Imola.

Max Biaggi is World SBK Champion. He is the first Italian to win the most prestigious wreath in Superbike history and he also delivers the world Manufacturer title to Aprilia.

In the last race of the season, in Magny Cours (France), the spectacular year ends with a triumph. With the victory won by Max Biaggi the triumphant march of the Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team comes to an end after conquering all of the titles on the table in their second year on the track with the new RSV4. Aprilia soars to the top of the manufacturer standings with 47 points over Ducati, 59 over Suzuki, 119 over Yamaha, followed by Honda, BMW and Kawasaki.

2011

Aprilia strengthens its record as the most victorious Italian and European manufacturer out of all those active in MotoGP with 294 Grand Prix races won (151 in 125 and 143 in 250) and 38 championship titles (19 manufacturer titles and 19 rider titles). Aprilia takes the 2011 Manufacturer title in the 125 class with four races still left to go in the championship and, in the last race of the season on the Valencia circuit, the young spanish Aprilia rider Nico Terol is crowned 2011 World Champion in the 125 class.

The 2011 World Superbike season ended with the 3rd place in the riders standing for Max Biaggi, who gained two race wins and 12 podiums overall. Thanks to this results, combined with 4 podiums by teammate Leon Camier, Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team has taken 3rd place on the manufacturers standing.

 Aprilia Racing won the 2011 Supermoto S1 World Championship. Both Rider and Manufacturer titles arrived in the last race: local star Adrien Chareyre, from Fast Wheels Team, on Aprilia 4.5, won the world titles at stake in the decisive French GP.

2012

The 2012 SBK season was the setting for a triumphant story: Max Biaggi was off to a grand start, winning the opening round in Australia. Max led in the standings for almost the entire championship, forced to follow from second place only after the Moscow round. But already in the next round he had returned to the lead, winning at the Nürburgring on an historic day for Aprilia, placing three RSV4 bikes on the podium in Race 1 (team mate Eugene Laverty and Chaz Davies on the ParkinGo Aprilia joined Max) and two in Race 2 with Davies winning and Laverty in second with Max riding an exciting comeback.

For the final round at Magny-Cours Biaggi arrived at the top of the Rider standings with a 30.5 point advantage over Tom Sykes (Kawasaki), 38.5 points ahead of Marco Melandri (BMW) and a solid 68.5 lead over Carlos Checa (Ducati). In the Manufacturer standings Aprilia arrived at the last track with a strong 28.5 advantage over BMW, 47.5 ahead of Ducati, 66 in front of Kawasaki, 152 over Honda and 292 more than Suzuki.

Poor weather and tenth place on the starting grid were no small complication for Max's last assault. In Race 1 Max had a sliding crash and retired from the race after a few laps. Sykes (who crossed the line third) and Melandri (second) drew dangerously close in the standings. The world championship came on the last turn of the last race: Max was fifth, a placing which allowed him to maintain a minimum advantage over Sykes, and he was Superbike World Champion for the second time. Aprilia is World Manufacturer SBK champion.

For Max Biaggi this is the sixth world title in an extraordinary career. And of six championship wins, 5 (three in 250 and two in SBK) arrived on an Aprilia bike.

For Aprilia the manufacturer title (the second one in SBK) takes the total number of world championships won to 51.

And the Piaggio Group, which includes other historic competition motorcycle brands within the group such as Gilera, Moto Guzzi and Derbi, reaches the spectacular number of 101 world championship titles.

With 101 World Championships in its collection (51 Aprilia, 15 Moto Guzzi, 21 Derbi, 14 Gilera) the Piaggio Group is the all-time most victorious European motorcycle group.

2013

In the current season the arrival of the fast and expert Frenchman, Sylvain Guintoli, alongside confirmed team mate Eugene Laverty, completed a structure which has otherwise remained unchanged.

After the Turkish race, with three rounds from the end of 2013 WSBK, Aprilia leads the manufacturer Championship with 419 points.

The Italian bike now leads Kawasaki (377), Bmw (354), Honda (216), Suzuki (193), Ducati (144) and Yamaha (4).

Sylvain Guintoli and Eugene Laverty are lying second (just 8 points from the leader) and third respectively in the Rider Championship.

During the last weekend Eugene Laverty and Aprilia leave their mark on the first ever Turkish world Superbike round with an extraordinary double win. After taking a strong win in Race1, the Northern Irish rider repeated the performance in the second race.