At Noale their lips are sealed and Max Biaggi is missing in action as news from the halls of Piaggio trickles out that Max Biaggi is moving to Aprilia.
This is in addition to team changes with Hayden and Ducati.
Biaggi and Aprilia find themselves together again, with a two year contract for 2009 and 2010 SBK.
This is big news for both the company and the rider, but also for SBK and the motorcycling world as two legends are set to perform again.
Biaggi will start from where he left off as an “official driver”, showing that his career is far from over and that he is a complex rider, with mercurial character.
Biaggi has shown, when it was needed, that he is competitive, prepared to fight for the podium and a title.
Despite Max revealing a possible preference for Suzuki, Aprilia had him at the top of the list for their favourites.
Biaggi has since made his choice, one not easy to make but that was required of him.
The new “Biaggi–Aprilia” team in all-Italian colours, should spark the imagination of many fans, though it won’t be enough to gain results.
Underestimating the power of a set of Italian fans following both rider and bike, would be foolish, and this team has an added value that’s difficult to determine.
The RSV4 1000 is already running well but more will be required of it – at Aprilia, however, they know how to make racing bikes (their exit from SBK in 2001 was due to financial problems, not technical aspects).
Piaggio is the first big European motorcycling group, and its history will be guiding its knowledge of image and commercial strategy.
SBK is really getting exciting – on the track we see the colossals of Ducati, Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki and now also BMW in the mix.
Nothing is missing for an exciting era, and Biaggi and Aprilia are now in the thick of it.
We wait for the official news while touching wood.