WSBK: Factory Inspection: Milwaukee Aprilia

The Milwaukee Aprilia team start their second season together unchanged, with Eugene Laverty and Lorenzo Savadori looking to give Shaun Muir’s outfit their first victory. Having endured a season of rear end problems, the team seems to have found something that may see them much faster from the word ‘go’.

Eugene Laverty’s big comeback may not have been what many expected last year, having struggled to be competitive in the early part of the season. However, as Laverty moved on through the year and his team gained a better understanding of the Aprilia, things started to turn and a best result of 4th at Portimao was just what the Irishman needed. OK, he scored less points than he did on the Suzuki, didn’t get a podium and was 10th but ‘Norge’ could well be a challenger in 2018. Maybe not for the title but definitely for wins.

Lorenzo Savadori finished just behind his teammate in the championship. A second year on the Aprilia turned out to be worse but he was also adapting to a new team. He suffered an injury in Thailand which forced him out of Aragon but from Misano to Portimao, he didn’t drop outside the top 10 once. With a year under his belt at the team, Savadori will be certainly looking to get in on the act and try to push for his first World Superbike podium.

Aprilia have not achieved any podiums since Leon Haslam rode the bike in 2015, an astonishing statistic. In that season, they achieved nothing worse than a second place finish in Australia and Thailand, with both Haslam and Jordi Torres taking a win each at Losail, too. Portimao was very strong for them last year too, with a double top 10 in both races.