Aprilia's GP four-banger

By JIM DUNCAN

While it was only a matter of time before the Italian marque released info on its new four-stroke GP racer, Aprilia - like Suzuku - has jumped the gun and decided to include its new bike in the 2002 season.

The new bike will be named the Aprilia RS3, most likely because the bike is a three-cylinder jobbie. This will make the racing extrememly interesting - Honda is using a new Vee five-cylinder engine, Suzuki a Vee four-cylinder powerplant, Yamaha an inline-four-banger and now Aprilia with its three-cylinder mill.

It will be a good gauge to see which bike (or engine) is better for tyre wear, corner speed, straight line speed, fuel efficiency and so on. As a motorcyclist and a huge fan of MotoGP, I simply can't wait to see the first race of the season.

Anyway, back to the RS3, this is one piece of machinery that money can't buy. With 220bhp and a three-cylinder, 990cc four-stroke engine, the new bike not only looks good, but it will most definitely go like a rocket. Aprilia head honcho, Ivano Beggio, said: "This is undoubtedly the most important racing bike in the history of Aprilia, and also the one which has required the greatest commitment in terms of time and money. This machine embodies all our passion, our finest technology and our very dreams. I'm proud to present the RS3 as the first European bike to line up for the challenge and battle with the titans of the Far East."

The new bike uses a 990cc capacity engine incorporating a pneumatic valve return system, tested in Formula 1. This system closes the valves using pressurised air, where conventional systems make use of a spring to close the valves. The advantages of this innovative technology basically lie in reducing valve bounce and all of this is thanks to Aprilia's close relationship with Cosworth Racing, who helped develop the new powerplant.

Another interesting aspect of the powerful new 'Prilla is the swingarm. Just take a look at it - it's huge! In hindsight, the massive arm is needed to cope the intense power on tap. Interestingly, Aprilia has two swingarm options for races - the standard aluminiun jobbie and a far cooler carbon fibre swingarm.

The fuel-injected engine makes use of double exhaust headers - as you can see in the photo. While Aprilia claims the bike churns out some 200bhp, rumours suggest that the new engine creates some 220bhp @ 5000rpm. All this in a 135kg package and you've got something to celebrate.

Aprilia's Ivano Beggio continued: "MotoGP will represent a test bed more relevant to our standard products, to which we can then apply many of the solutions adopted on our race bikes. This is a challenge which a company such as Aprilia, with racing in its blood, could not refuse. This bike represents our passion, our winning experience, our technology and even our dreams."

2002 can't come any quicker for this petrol head...