Aprilia

Despite being a relatively small company by global motorcycling standards, Aprilia is very active in motorcycle sports. It contested many Road Racing formulae, including the now-defunct 125 cc, 250 cc and 500 cc Grand Prix classes of the FIM World Championship. From 2002 to 2004 they participated in the FIM MotoGP World Championship, and from 1999 to 2002 they participated in the FIM Superbike World Championship. Aprilia has returned to World Superbike since the 2009 season and in MotoGP since the 2012 season.

Aprilia also feature in the off-road racing world, with their 450 cc V-2 motocrosser producing respectable results (including race wins) in both off-road (Motocross) and on-road (Supermoto) categories.

Aprilia made their international racing debut in the Motocross World Championship competing in the 125cc class from 1976 until 1981 with a best result being a fifth place in the 1979 season with rider Corrado Maddi.[7] The firm then focused on the Grand Prix road racing world championships in 1985 and since then it has seen varying successes. Aprilia won their first world championship race at the 1991 Czechoslovak motorcycle Grand Prix with rider Alessandro Gramigni winning the 125cc race.[8] In 1992 they won their first road racing world championship with Gramigni winning the 125cc class.[8] They continued to be successful in the smaller displacement categories, winning numerous races and championships in the 125 cc and 250 cc Grand Prix classes.

However, their 500 cc Grand Prix bikes failed to attain the same success. They began campaigning in the 500cc class in 1994 with a 250 V twin motor enlarged to 380cc in hopes of using its lighter weight and nimble handling as an advantage against the heavier, V4 engine bikes used by the competition.[8] The bike eventually displaced 430cc and had its best result with a third place by rider Doriano Romboni at the 1997 Dutch TT but, could never overcome power disadvantage during the starting line sprint and was withdrawn at the end of the 1997 season for further development.[8] Their first MotoGP effort, dubbed the RS Cube, was technically advanced but difficult to ride and performed poorly in the championship. The Cube did, however, pioneer many advanced technologies including ride by wire throttle and pneumatic valve actuation systems. Aprilia left the MotoGP class at the end of 2004 and then left the lower classes when two-stroke engines were banned. Aprilia set the record for the most points earned by a manufacturer in a single season from the 125cc class with 410 points in 2007. It was also the highest points earned by a constructor in Grand Prix motorcycle racing's history until 2011 when 420 points were won by the same bikes winning 16 out of 17 races.

The company is also notable for choosing somewhat atypical engine configurations. For example, they progressed with development of a V-2 500 cc Grand Prix bike when other teams were moving to V-4 configurations for what some believed was better and more usable power outputs. Aprilia continued this trend, taking advantage of lighter minimum weights with the introduction of their RS Cube MotoGP bike – featuring three cylinders in an inline triple layout, the bike had the fewest cylinders on the Grand Prix paddock.

Aprilia rejoined the MotoGP class in 2012, taking advantage of the newly introduced Claiming Rule Team category that encouraged independent teams with lower budgets to use bikes from manufacturers not officially involved in MotoGP. Aprilia supplied RSV4 SBK-derived bikes under the ART (Aprilia Racing Technology) name to Aspar Team, Paul Bird Motorsport and Speed Master teams. In both the 2012 and 2013 seasons Aprilia's ART machinery stood out as the best CRT bikes.

In 2015, Aprilia partnered with Gresini Racing as a factory-supported independent team. The team competed as the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini with an all-new 1000cc V4-engined RS-GP.

In 2022, Aprilia entered the series as an official factory team for the first time since 2004.[9] Their previously supported Gresini Racing team returned to a fully-independent team using Ducati bikes. Aprilia's factory team is named Aprilia Racing.

• 250cc class
  • 1995, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
• 125cc class
  • 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Motorcycle	Tyres	Riders	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Points	RC	Points	TC	Points	MC
2022				QAT	INA	ARG	AME	POR	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	GER	NED	GBR	AUT	RSM	ARA	JPN	THA	AUS	MAL	VAL
	Aprilia RS-GP	M	Aleix Espargaró	4	9	1	11	3	3	3	3	5	4	4	9	6	6	3	16	11	9	10	Ret	212	4th	334	3rd	248	3rd
			Maverick Viñales	12	16	7	10	10	14	10	12	7	Ret	3	2	13	3	13	7	7	17	16	Ret	122	11th
			Lorenzo Savadori					Ret	21		22			20		19								0	NC	—
2023				POR	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA	GER	NED	GBR	AUT	CAT	RSM	IND	JPN	INA	AUS	THA	MAL	QAT	VAL
	Aprilia RS-GP	M	Maverick Viñales	25	127	4	Ret7	Ret9	12	Ret	Ret7	53	68	23	56	88								138*	7th*	298*	5th*	228*	3rd*
			Aleix Espargaró	96	15	Ret4	5	58	68	169	34	15	97	11	128	Ret								160*	5th*
			Lorenzo Savadori						18		11		19											5 (9)*	24th*	—

Aprilia RSV4 Factory race bike

Aprilia entered the Superbike World Championship in 1999 using a homologation special version of their V-twin road bike RSV Mille. They were third in the riders' championship in 2000 with rider Troy Corser, and third in manufacturers' points and fourth in rider points both in 2001 with Corser and in 2002 with Noriyuki Haga. Aprilia retired from the series at the end of that season.

In February 2008, Aprilia debuted a V-4 superbike, the RSV4, for the 2009 Superbike World Championship.[10]

Max Biaggi rides the RSV4

Aprilia won its first Superbike world championship in 2010 with Max Biaggi, claiming both the riders and the manufacturers titles.

• 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014

Thierry Van Den Bosch riding the SXV 450 in 2006

Aprilia debuted in the FIM Supermoto World Championship in 2004 and since then it has won many titles in both S1 and S2 classes.

• S2 class: 2006, 2007
• S1 class: 2008, 2011