Last Friday (April 12), ahead of the MotoGP USA race, Aprilia Apulia was on hand to present two SE-09 SBK special edition models: the RSV4 Factory SE-09 SBK and the Tuono V4 Factory SE-09 SBK. The SE-09 SBK, SE stands for Special Edition, and the 09 SBK commemorates April's debut of the V-four-cylinder RSV4 in 2009, which competed in the WorldSBK Supercar World Championship and won the first race in the first session of the Brno race in the Czech Republic on July 26, 2009.
The standard RSV4 Factory currently on sale is equipped with a water-cooled V-shaped 65-degree four-cylinder, DOHC four-valve engine with a displacement of 1,099 cc and a maximum horsepower output of 217 hp, and the official price in the domestic market is currently 198,800 yuan, while the Tuono V4 Factory is equipped with a water-cooled V-type 65-degree four-cylinder, DOHC four-valve engine with a displacement of 1,077 cc and a maximum horsepower output of 175 The official price in the domestic market is currently 158,000 yuan.
Compared to the standard model, the RSV4 Factory SE-09 SBK and Tuono V4 Factory SE-09 SBK Special Editions feature carbon fibre front brake system air intakes, carbon fibre front fenders, and a body pattern similar to that of the 2009 WorldSBK factory race car, with the car's limited production serial number on the fuel tank.
In 2008, Apulia unveiled the RSV4 with a V-shaped 65-degree four-cylinder 998.9 cc engine, which was officially launched in 2009 and entered the WorldSBK at the same time. In Qatar in the second race of the 2009 season, the team's main driver Max Biaggi took the podium and finished third in two sessions, in the ninth round in Great Britain and Biaki took second in the first session, and in the Czech Republic in the tenth race, Biaggi won the first and second in the second session, giving the new RSV4 its first victory.
By 2010, Biaki had won the first World Championship title at WorldSBK for Apulia and RSV4: they won both the 2010 WorldSBK's highest-level Drivers' World Championship and the Constructors' Annual Championship. As of 2014, Apuria's RSV4 has won three Drivers' World Championships (2010, 2012, 2014) and four Constructors' Championships (2010, 2012 - 2014).
Below, Biaki, who won the first quarter of the 2009 WorldSBK Czech Republic (file photo).
Aprilia made its first foray into WorldSBK around the turn of the millennium with the RSV 1000 Mile R with a V-shaped 60-degree two-cylinder engine for Rotax. The first race was won in Australia in the second round of the 2000 season, in the second session of the race by the famous local driver (at the time) Troy Corser. This season, Kosha won the third place in the overall championship of the year, winning a total of five quarters of the championship.
Pictured below, Cosha driving a RSV1000 Mille R at WorldSBK (profile image. Image source: FIM).