2005 can be remembered as the extremely revolutionary year in Aprilia’s push towards sportiness that (when compared with more successful years in the past) can boast of competitive performances and numerous victories in every specialty where her presence was felt.
The 250 World Championship ended with Aprilia in second place in the manufacturer’s classification, separated from the leader only by ten points. Of the riders, Casey Stoner was the best, collecting seven victories atop the official RSW 250 that was entrusted to Team Carrera Sunglasses. The Australian rider was competing for first place right up until the end and just a few mistakes kept him from the joy of the title. Talking about riders, we couldn’t exclude Randy De Puniet’s victory in England. The French rider of the Aprilia Aspar 250 won at Donington, racing through torrential downpours and pulling out a victory based on pure character. Still in search of his first victory, Alex De Angelis closed out World’s in seventh position. For the rider from San Marino, 2006 will be the year of redemption after a 2005 filled more with bad luck than mistakes.
In 125cc, Aprilia finished third in the manufacturer’s category. Many riders enjoyed success and among these was Mattia Pasini, racing the season with the new Totti Top Sport team. Under the guidance of the Rome soccer captain, Mattia allowed himself a win even on the brand new track in Shanghai, the first career victory for the rider from Romagna. Another protagonist was Marco Simoncelli: the young rider from Riccione who fought more against his physique than his adversaries. Marco, more than 1.85 meters tall, forced the Aprilia technicians to work to adapt the RS 125 to his build. Simoncelli also did his part and accomplished the impossible; he completed great races and distinguished himself on a few occasions, for example in Germany where he finished on the podium after a long comeback.
In the off-road, the year of the adventurous Aprilia bi-cylinders’ commercial launch saw performances in alternative races, particularly in the Supermoto S1 class. They conquered many podiums and a victory at Jesolo. Health problems for Leaconet in the second race of the S1 (resulting in eye surgery near the halfway mark of the season) didn’t help Max Manzo’s quest for good results. Aprilia’s satisfactions with the Supermoto came from good performances in a few foreign races on international circuits such as the Superbikers of Mettet and the Supermoto of the Nations. 2005 was also the year of continual development for the off-road bi-cylinders. It signaled the historic and absolute debut of the cross two-cylinder and the usage of competitions to bring the motorcycle closer to commercialization through gradual developmental steps. The RXV, the Enduro motorcycle entrusted to Stefano Passeri, immediately demonstrated itself as competitive. The Macchi engineering staff was satisfied with the two international points it earned at Tolmezzo, the solid performance at the Six International Days in Slovakia, and was especially pleased with the victory in the Italian race at San Severino Marche.
Particularly intense and satisfying was the performance of Samuela De Nardi, the blond rider from Vittorio Veneto and the new European champion. Atop the RSV 1000, she, Daniele Veghini, and Federico Aliverti were the protagonists of the historical Aprilia victory in the Stock category of the Suzuka 8 Hours.
2005 will also be remembered for the huge performances in the regularity races in which Aprilia’s endurance team knew how to show off the RSV 1000 as the best series motorcycle in the international races of Albacete, Suzuka, Oschersleben, and Vallelunga.