2008 Aprilia Shiver 750 on 2040-motos

Moto blog

Melandri Signs with Aprilia WSBK Team

Marco Melandri has signed a one-year contract to race with Aprilia‘s factory World Superbike team to ride the RSV4 for the 2014 season. The Ravenna, Italy, native will join the returning Sylvain Guintoli, taking the place of Eugene Laverty on the factory team. The move also reunites Melandri with Aprilia; Melandri raced three seasons on an Aprilia RSV250 in the 250cc Grand Prix championship, winning the title in 2002 for his first, and so far, only world title.

Paris Hilton’s Race Team Might Actually Be Good

When news first emerged that Paris Hilton was getting into the Grand Prix racing business, the response from fans of the motorcycle racing ranged from utter disdain to hope that the celebutante’s involvement would raise the profile of the sport. Whether you dread the image of a sparkly pink carbon fiber fairing or welcome any infusion of funding and support for racing, the one thought that may not have crossed your mind was “what if the team turns out to be pretty good?” Based on the results of a recent 125cc Grand Prix pre-season test, that might be the case. Maverick Viñales of the SuperMartxe VIP by Paris Hilton team had the second fastest laptime from the three-day test at Spain’s Valencia circuit, just 0.1 seconds behind the leader Nico Terol of Bancaja Aspar.

Anthony West Can’t Afford to Pay to Race MotoGP, Mulls Retirement

The 2012 MotoGP season is still months away and the world championship has already lost an entry, as veteran Anthony West announced his withdrawal from the series because he cannot afford to compete. The 30-year-old Australian racer was included on the provisional 2012 MotoGP entry list to compete for the Speed Master team on an Aprilia CRT machine. But with the official pre-season test at Sepang, Malaysia, coming up next week, West says he will not race because teams are asking riders to pay too much to race for them.