Monterey, CA – July, 2009 – The Factory Aprilia Millennium Technologies Team scored its first podium of the year with a brilliant second place finish by Chaz Davies. The race was a hard fought, epic battle that saw Davies fight all the way to the finish line. This is the team’s first podium finish of the year and Davies’ first podium finish since Daytona 2008.
KWS Motorsports continued the development of the Millennium Technologies sponsored Factory Aprilia RSV1000R in the three weeks leading up to Laguna and used the first day of the event to test new parts and settings. Although the lap times did not show it on the first day the team learned a lot in the limited track time. In qualifying, Davies was right there with the leaders. Although he only qualified in the sixth position, he was only a few hundredths of a second out of the second position. Teammate Ben Thompson continued to struggle with his bike set-up and qualified in the 22nd position.
The team continued to take steps forward with each session. In Sunday morning’s warm-up session Davies posted the fastest time. This gave both the rider and the team confidence for a good finish. Thompson also made progress over the course of the weekend, finishing the morning warm-up in eighteenth position. He would, however, need a good start to make up for qualifying.
The Daytona SportBike race was held immediately after the MotoGP race in front of a huge enthusiastic crowd of almost 50,000 people and they were treated to an amazing race. The start could have gone better for both riders, as Davies was shuffled back to seventh in the first corner and Thompson made up only a few positions. Davies made up ground quickly and fell into a four-way battle for third place that saw riders going into Laguna’s tight turn two, three-wide and sideways all the way to the apex. Eventually something had to happen and Jason DiSalvo fell down, taking two other riders with him. This brought out a red flag, stopping the race, and then a re-start. The re-start worked out wonderfully for the Factory Aprilia team. In the first segment of the race Davies was battling for the last spot on the podium, but after the restart and some very aggressive passes in the first couple of laps Davies took the lead. He held the lead for five laps until Ben Bostrom slipped by with two laps to go. Davies managed to stay with Bostrom on the last lap, but was not close enough going into the final corner to make a move and had to settle for the 2nd position .0226 back. This is the team’s best result in AMA competition to date.
Thompson made progress over the course of the weekend and had moved up to 15th position when he unfortunately suffered a mechanical problem and retired from the race.
Chaz Davies – “What a great race! The KWS guys put in a monumental effort to get the bike this competitive. Its a million miles from where it was at Daytona. I am very excited about the next four rounds. Our goal is to make the most of it and do what we can to win one before the season is over and the team starts working on the amazing new Aprilia RSV4.”
Ben Thompson – “We made some progress this weekend trying to find a setting I can work with. The race was going well and we were moving forward but we had a problem with the bike and I had to pull off. It’s been a rough couple of races but we are working on a solution and I am confident we will find it soon.”
Kevin Hunt (Team Owner) – “This is the culmination of an effort that started with four bare Aprilia chassis eight days before Daytona. It seems like forever, but it was only a little over a hundred days ago. When we started this, nobody knew how it was going to turn out, but we put everything we had into this and no effort or resource has been spared. The most rewarding things in life are when you put in what you know is your best effort and it pays off. We have eight more chances for a win this year and we are looking forward to each and every one. A huge thanks Michael Godin, Jimmy Le, Rocky Stargel, Marty Ashmore, Brian Nallin and Chip Spalding for all their hard work this year.”
The Factory Aprilia Millennium Technologies Team is proudly sponsored by:
Aprilia USA, Millennium Technologies, KWS Motorsports, Pit Bull, LeoVince Exhaust, Motion Pro, Bazzaz Performance, Sebimoto Bodywork, Yoyodyne, Slednecks, EK Chains, Motul Oils, Performance Friction Brakes, Worldwide Bearing, K&N Filters, Zero Gravity Windscreens, Suzuka Tire Warmers, Stomp Grip, Hel Brake Lines, Spider Grips, ETI FuelCel and ASV Inventions.