Historical affirmation for Aprilia in the Italian Motocross Championships

TopSpeed

By Anthony Kodack

Published Oct 17, 2007

The Aprilia MXV 4.5 entered into the motocross history books thanks to Chicco Chiodi's success in the final round of the Italian Motocross Championships, disputed on Sunday, October 14th at Gazzane di Preseglie (Brescia, Italy). In fact, it was the first time that a twin 4-time motorcycle won an official national motocross championships race. Riding the MXV 4.5 to success was Chicco Chiodi, the three-time international 125 champion and official rider of the Noale Production House. He did everything right, starting from Saturday's MX1 qualifying sessions (the class for 450cc 4-time motorcycles) where he registered the best time of 1:40.523, some 1:267 seconds ahead of 2nd place David Philippaerts (Ktm). The Italian pair also confirmed themselves to be the best during Sunday's warm-ups as they earned the pole with a time of 1:41.62.

At the start of Race 1, Chiodi didn't have a great start, taking the first curve in the middle group. In a couple of laps, he was able to rid himself of the adversaries he had been following and made his way up to 2nd place, aiming for Philippaerts in the lead. This last adversary, however, was able to successfully administer the lead he had accumulated during the initial phases of the race and went on to win the heat. For Chiodi, also the winner of the fastest lap during the race, it was a well-deserved 2nd place, especially knowing that victory was within reach.

This undertaking was simply pushed back to the second heat when Chiodi, second at the start behind Philippaerts, passed his rival during the first lap and gained the lead. Both riders immediately stepped up the rythm of the race (Salvini, who finished 3rd, was about 30 seconds behind the top two finishers) but Chiodi was able to contain Philippaerts' attacks, ultimately forcing his rival to settle for 2nd. The checkered flag thus awarded the heat victory (and that of the day) to Chicco Chiodi's Aprilia twin.

Thus the year of Aprilia's official reentry into the motocross closes out with a brilliant, national affirmation of the evident progress made by the MXV 4.5, starting from the second half of the championship.