The Aprilia Racing Team continued its march towards the front of the 2012 Australian Formula Xtreme Championship at round two, held at the Wakefield Park circuit over the weekend 21-22 April.
In a pleasing weekend Russell Holland improved his lap times and familiarity with the Aprilia RSV-4 in the FX Superbike Class, and Dan Stauffer proved the quality of the Pirelli race rubber in Formula Oz over the weekend with impressive results. Holland clearly signalled that he is now ready to race for the podium with a strong fourth place finish in race two on Sunday and Stauffer took the honours in the FX Nationals with three first place finishes in Saturday’s program.
Wakefield Park at Goulburn was a new track for the team having not raced the Aprilia here before – although it being familiar to Russell Holland who grew up close by. Despite being familiar with the layout of the circuit Russell had not ridden there for eight years, and that was a 600 Supersport machine, a very different animal to the potent Aprilia RSV-4. The tight technical nature of the track and single qualifying session meant the team worked overtime to get the bikes setup in Saturdays FX Nationals program for Sunday’s Australian FX Superbike Championship. Despite this Dan Stauffer carded three race wins from three starts in the Saturday precursor.
Over Sundays three race Australian Formula Xtreme Championship program Stauffer carded three second place finishes whilst marvelling at the longevity of the Pirelli slick tyres used on the RSV-4 Superbike in the Formula Oz class, the rubber holding up well allowing Dan to utilise the Aprilia’s power to the last lap in each race. Second place in race two set up a thrilling final encounter for race three but unfortunately Dan’s competitive nature meant that while pushing hard for the lead on lap two of the finale he clipped a ripple strip and went down. Overall the Pirelli tyres showed grip and longevity which will be important for the next round at the team’s home circuit of Queensland Raceway.
Russell Holland continued his ascendency towards the FX Superbike podium over the weekend, dusting off the cobwebs from minimal riding over the last 18 months. Eastern Creek’s season opener was a good chance to get back into the swing of racing but a fourth place finish in race two of the Australian FX Superbike Program at Wakefield Park showed that Russell is now ready to take on the FX Superbike front runners and fight in the lead group. Russell has now given clear notice to the FX field that he and the awesome Aprilia RSV-4 are ready to mount the podium at the next round. In fact Russell’s fastest lap in race two was only a few tenths of a second off those of the podium place getters.
“Having not ridden for so long - even after riding at the first round - it is still tough” commented Russell after race three. “There are a lot of positives after the weekend though and that’s what gives me confidence, the bike doesn’t seem to wear tyres like everyone else, towards the end of the race – and day – they are in much better condition. I’m still trying to hang on rather than attack but I felt much better in race two so I’d say it is just a matter of time. We have a little time between now and the next round so I really just need to ride a bit more and I’m hopeful of doing that. I’ll keep working at it – I know the team are - and we’ll be challenging for the podium at the next round.”
“We took some big positives out of this weekend, so I am really happy” commented Team Principal Steve Trinder. “Russell showed he is knocking on the door of the podium with a continued march toward the front over the weekend. That is exactly what I expected when I asked him to ride at the beginning of the year. He hadn’t raced for eighteen months so it was always going to take a little while to get his eye in as well as get used to abilities of the Aprilia. The next round at our home circuit should really suit both Russell and the FX Superbike RSV-4. Dan has shown by his lap times that bike is working well with the Pirelli slicks, the team has worked hard to make the transition this year and there is more to come – much more. I was most impressed with the longevity of the tyres, one set for qualifying and all three races prove their worth”.
The Aprilia Racing team would like to thanks its sponsors for the 2012 season, as without them it is impossible to go racing Aprilia, Brisbane Aprilia, Archers Smash DPAR, Motul, RK Chains, Pirelli and Goodridge
