The weekend began today and, without a doubt, it is one of the most important of the season for the Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team and its colours bearer, Max Biaggi. Both come to the Santerno looking down on their rivals in the respective rankings and they are making no bones about their desire to strengthen their hold on first place.

In the first Friday tests Max is calm and focused on refining his RSV4 on one of the less hospitable tracks for the four cylinder Aprilia. The bumps and the poor condition of the asphalt demand a lot of work from the technicians, searching for grip and stability without compromising the manoeuvrability needed for quick changes in direction.

The four time champion is candid about admitting to some problems: "Today was a more difficult Friday than usual. This is a new track and, in spite of the good results from last year, we have always had to work hard to find the right solution. Even after having done some tests here a few months ago, I'm still not completely comfortable and I'm not able to ride smoothly. If you add to that the progress that our adversaries have made, today's times are easily explained. There's nothing to be alarmed about – we simply need to work well as we always do and give our best. Nothing has been handed to us this season, much less now that the championship title is on the line. Unfortunately the weather doesn't seem to be helping either as we would have needed to do a lot of testing in stable conditions. We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed."

As already announced, Aprilia's second rider, Leon Camier will not be riding this weekend. Rehabilitation is going well after surgery on his right wrist due the crash on the Nurburgring and it looks positive for him in view of the next WSBK round at Magny Cours.

PREVIEW

World Superbike returns to Italy for the Imola round. The Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team and Max Biaggi are playing on home turf with a clear goal of confirming the double first place rankings.

As with every Red, White and Green round, the Imola WSBK round - penultimate of the season - holds a special flavour for the Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team, reinforced by their double leadership. In fact, Max Biaggi dominates in the rider rankings with 58 lengths ahead of Haslam, while Aprilia is at the top of the manufacturer standings at 49 points in front of Suzuki. So the 4,959 metres of Santerno track will host what could very well be the decisive challenge between the only two hopefuls for the World Superbike title.

The team from Veneto will entrust its only RSV4 to the four time world champion Max Biaggi. Leon Camier will not be able to participate as he is convalescing after surgery on his right wrist, injured in a crash during the German weekend on the Nurburgring. The English rider is hoping to be back on the track for the last round of the season, at Magny Cours in France.

Max Biaggi has no doubts – "As I already said, at Imola I will be a reckless book keeper. I'll battle without ever holding back but, at the same time, always bearing in mind the rankings situation and the importance of every single point. Experience teaches me that, to win the World Championship, I need to be constantly focused, never leaving anything to chance. This is why, even more than the other weekends, it will be so important to find the best setup right from the first practice. Imola is a track with a few too many bumps, so we'll have to work hard to stay in the positions that count."

The Imola round is also the venue for an important initiative which ties Aprilia Racing to AMREF. Habitual success and consistent joy over sports victories must not make us forget about our commitment to solidarity with those who continue to suffer. This is why Aprilia Racing and the Piaggio Group have decided to share a season rich with satisfaction with those who are less fortunate, hosting the AMREF logo on the body of the RSV4 bikes used in World Superbike 2010 by Max Biaggi and Leon Camier.

The African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) is the main non profit health organisation on the African continent. Established in Nairobi in 1957 by three surgeons, today it has more than 800 people on staff in Africa (97% of whom are Africans) and manages about 140 health development projects in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda with the active participation of the communities, personnel and local health systems.

In half a century of activity, AMREF has aided, treated and trained millions of people. Almost 90 percent of the funds raised by AMREF Italy come from support from private individuals, events and exhibits and from cooperation with selected companies. There are more than 120,000 AMREF Italy supporters, among which are well know individuals from the art, culture, show business and sport world.

In kicking off this cooperation Aprilia Racing intends to contribute - thanks to the visibility of its sports activity on a worldwide level - to increasing awareness and esteem for AMREF's work. Because in solidarity, just like in a race, we must never stop.