VDB signs up with Aprilia.

[dicky]

This should heat up the competition this year.
Pitty we live so far away from the action.
Maybe I need to get work to send me to France again this year.

http://www.racingaprilia.com/eng/news.phtml?id=1691&c=10

dicky.

[Wobbly]

Mmm ... wonder if he will run in s1, s2 or both...?

Take a camera with you dicky ;)

[shane]

with Mc coy on KTM and the leged himself eddy seal riding foctory backed {japan} suzuki it is going to the best season by far also yamaha japan have a factory team but i cant remember who is the rider

[Muzzard]

Mmm ... wonder if he will run in s1, s2 or both...?
Take a camera with you dicky ;)

His start number is 101 and it is the same percentage which is written on the back of his leathers. Thierry Van Den Bosch had to be 101% determined when he signed for Aprilia; he was moving to a new class, to a new team and to a new bike.

Some people think that changing their hair style is enough to change their life. VDB kept his hair style but made his life change anyways.

Thierry, why did you move to the S2? -I went to the S2 class because many riders can go for the win and there is a lot to fight. I used to prefer the S1 because bikes are more powerful; in S2 you slide a little bit less because of such a gap.

And the choice of Aprilia?
-It was a new challenge. I have been in KTM for four years and it was all great. When I got in touch with Aprilia, the challenge was winning with a different bike, the two cylinder, which was a new machine to me. I am happy of this choice: I go along well with Aprilia, plus the S2 bikes are going faster and faster. Power is not a problem anymore!

You said you care a lot about the power. But it is not the only characteristic you need to win.
-It depends. In the small tracks we are faster than the S1 and in the bigger tracks we are almost the same. There are many small tracks where you cannot get all power down; the S2 bikes are lighter and very agile: they are faster in the off-road section and also in the tight turns.

Does your riding style suit better the S1 or the S2?
-I think my style works in all classes and with all bikes!

But did you change any bits of your style since you moved to the S2 class?
-Not really. The bike has to be ridden in a different way; any time you change the bike, you need to change your style a little bit. But basically my style has not changed.

In Aprilia you found a smaller bike with one more cylinder. What was the main difference?
-It is how the power comes; I was used to bikes with a lot of torque at low revs but in Aprilia the power is at the high revs. There is a little bit less torque but there is a lot of power at high revs and the bikes spurts a lot. This gives us an advantage on the fast tracks.

The two cylinder philosophy is completely new and needs a new know-how. Did you bring Aprilia your experience or just your speed?
-The development is a team work; by my side I bring my own experience and I try to be as fast as I can. The results do not come just from me: the whole team has been working well and I think we can improve. This is the essence of racing: I do my best and the team does his best.

Did you focus on some specific aspects of the bike during the development?
-We worked a lot on the engine to find some more torque and to regulate the engine braking; the latter was the area where we worked more. We also worked to make the bike “easier”: the Aprilia is very performing but sometimes it is hard to ride. Now it is all much better.

You think that the future of Supermoto has one or two cylinders?
-I think two. We can demonstrate it. In Supermoto you can be fast with one cylinder, as it is in S1; also in S2 the other guys are not far from us. But also Aprilia’s philosophy works and I think we may have an advantage for the future.

[shane]

timed practice from S2 for today race
Pos Nr Rider Nat. Fed. Bike Bestlaptime in lap Diff. First Diff. Prev. Tot. Laps Speed
1 1 Chambon, Boris FRA FFM KTM 0:56.207 25 0:00.000 0:00.000 31 77.49
2 3 Seel, Eddy BEL FMB Suzuki 0:56.237 24 0:00.030 0:00.030 24 77.45
3 101 van den Bosch, Thierry FRA FFM Aprilia 0:56.529 21 0:00.322 0:00.292 22 77.05
4 32 Jorge, Nestor SPA RFME Honda 0:56.845 25 0:00.638 0:00.316 26 76.62
5 11 Gozzini, Davide ITA FMI Husqvarna 0:56.918 8 0:00.711 0:00.073 18 76.53
6 111 Manzo, Max ITA FMI Yamaha 0:56.986 15 0:00.779 0:00.068 24 76.43
7 5 Bolley, Frédéric FRA FFM Aprilia 0:56.994 19 0:00.787 0:00.008 24 76.42
8 121 Beltrami, Massimo ITA FMI Honda 0:57.024 27 0:00.817 0:00.030 28 76.38
9 38 Balducci, Fabio ITA FMI TM 0:57.098 21 0:00.891 0:00.074 21 76.28
10 8 Giraudo, Jerome FRA FFM Aprilia 0:57.244 21 0:01.037 0:00.146 23 76.09
11 200 Bussei, Giovanni ITA FMI Honda 0:57.285 20 0:01.078 0:00.041 24 76.04
12 7 Pignotti, Attilio ITA FMI KTM 0:57.379 21 0:01.172 0:00.094 26 75.91
13 64 Bidart, Sylvain FRA FFM Honda 0:57.500 21 0:01.293 0:00.121 26 75.75
14 31 Minutilli, Luca ITA FMI KTM 0:57.526 16 0:01.319 0:00.026 19 75.72
15 2 Chareyre, Adrien FRA FFM Husqvarna 0:57.749 17 0:01.542 0:00.223 26 75.42
16 46 Gaspardone, Paolo ITA FMI Honda 0:57.823 23 0:01.616 0:00.074 27 75.33
17 12 Chareyre, Thomas FRA FFM Husqvarna 0:58.012 26 0:01.805 0:00.189 26 75.08
18 23 Rispoli, Graziano ITA FMI Suzuki 0:58.164 19 0:01.957 0:00.152 23 74.89
19 30 Gaillard, Jean-Marc BEL FMB Honda 0:58.315 20 0:02.108 0:00.151 26 74.69
20 20 Boano, Ivan ITA FMI Honda 0:58.989 3 0:02.782 0:00.674 16 73.84
21 66 Kakos, Giorgos GRE ELPA Suzuki 0:59.032 25 0:02.825 0:00.043 30 73.79
22 67 Papageorgiou, Manolis GRE ELPA Yamaha 0:59.068 24 0:02.861 0:00.036 24 73.74
23 89 Dondi, Marco ITA FMI Aprilia 0:59.347 20 0:03.140 0:00.279 24 73.39
24 40 Serafini, Alex ITA FMI TM 0:59.495 9 0:03.288 0:00.148 21 73.21
25 65 Tsalikis, Fotis GRE ELPA Honda 0:59.570 27 0:03.363 0:00.075 27 73.12
26 69 Hatzigeorgiou, Kimon GRE ELPA Yamaha 0:59.880 19 0:03.673 0:00.310 22 72.74
27 63 Daverio, Alessandro ITA FMI Aprilia 1:00.122 19 0:03.915 0:00.242 22 72.45
28 68 Mimikos, Mihalis GRE ELPA KTM 1:01.218 7 0:05.011 0:01.096 18 71.15
29 72 Papakostantinou, Aris GRE ELPA Yamaha 1:01.440 12 0:05.233 0:00.222 16 70.89

and S1 look at the times between classes :shock:
Pos Nr Rider Nat. Fed. Bike Bestlaptime in lap Diff. First Diff. Prev. Tot. Laps Speed
1 30 Lazzarini, Ivan ITA FMI Husqvarna 0:56.402 16 0:00.000 0:00.000 25 77.23
2 1 Delepine, Gerald BEL FMB Husqvarna 0:56.618 28 0:00.216 0:00.216 28 76.93
3 9 Goetz, Marcel SUI FMS KTM 0:56.768 16 0:00.366 0:00.150 24 76.73
4 28 Winstanley, Matthew GBR ACU KTM 0:56.788 24 0:00.386 0:00.020 24 76.70
5 96 Hlad, Ales SLO AMZS KTM 0:56.836 10 0:00.434 0:00.048 29 76.64
6 74 Girolami, Simone ITA FMI TM 0:56.875 23 0:00.473 0:00.039 26 76.58
7 12 Hiemer, Bernd GER DMSB KTM 0:56.951 27 0:00.549 0:00.076 29 76.48
8 19 Pes, Lorenzo ITA FMI KTM 0:56.972 13 0:00.570 0:00.021 24 76.45
9 6 Iddon, Christian GBR ACU Aprilia 0:57.189 26 0:00.787 0:00.217 26 76.16
10 17 Testu, Maxim FRA FFM Husqvarna 0:57.235 15 0:00.833 0:00.046 25 76.10
11 75 Baraccani, Robert ITA FMI TM 0:57.365 23 0:00.963 0:00.130 26 75.93
12 25 Lavetti, Michele ITA FMI KTM 0:57.763 23 0:01.361 0:00.398 26 75.41
13 73 Skarja, Marko SLO AMZS Husqvarna 0:57.899 29 0:01.497 0:00.136 31 75.23
14 14 Cullino, Cristano ITA FMI Yamaha 0:58.489 23 0:02.087 0:00.590 27 74.47
15 68 Boustas, Ioannis GRE ELPA KTM 0:58.619 12 0:02.217 0:00.130 25 74.31
16 58 Occhini, Andrea ITA FMI Husaberg 0:58.722 18 0:02.320 0:00.103 27 74.18
17 33 Migliorati, Massimo ITA FMI KTM 0:59.045 21 0:02.643 0:00.323 23 73.77
18 54 Calderoli, Marco ITA FMI KTM 0:59.152 17 0:02.750 0:00.107 23 73.64
19 21 Lind, Martin SWE SVEMO Husaberg 0:59.487 26 0:03.085 0:00.335 29 73.22
20 70 Mikes, Ilias GRE ELPA Husaberg 0:59.516 7 0:03.114 0:00.029 15 73.19
21 69 Koutsoubos, Mihalis GRE ELPA Honda 0:59.722 17 0:03.320 0:00.206 21 72.93
22 71 Nakis, Thanasis GRE ELPA Yamaha 0:59.948 21 0:03.546 0:00.226 21 72.66
23 72 Keffollonitis, Spiros GRE ELPA Yamaha 0:59.951 10 0:03.549 0:00.003 21 72.65
24 23 Lucquin, Ludovic FRA MUL Honda 1:00.815 8 0:04.413 0:00.864 24 71.62
25 36 Fiorucci, Fabrizio ITA FMI Aprilia 1:01.033 16 0:04.631 0:00.218 18 71.37
26 20 Allegretti, Adriano ITA FMI Honda 1:01.508 9 0:05.106 0:00.475 20 70.82
27 27 Bougelet, Eric BEL RFME KTM 1:02.021 19 0:05.619 0:00.513 23 70.23