The event was attended by Samuel Eto’o, just hours after taking victory with FC Barcelona in their Champions League match against Chelsea in London. “My favourite rider for the title? These two”, commented the Cameroon forward. The presentation took place this lunchtime at the Hotel Gran Meliá Palace in Palma de Mallorca. In front of the expectant press corps, Héctor Barberá and Jorge Lorenzo unveiled the new APRILIA RSW250 machine that they will ride in each of the sixteen rounds of the 250cc series in 2006. Following the preseason tests carried out by the squad, Team Fortuna Aprilia will be back on track next Wednesday and Thursday at the Circuit de Catalunya for the first official IRTA Test of 2006.


Jorge Lorenzo, Fortuna Aprilia Team rider

“I think I’m amongst the favourites this year but predictions and favourable odds count for nothing if you don’t go out there and prove them right every day. I’m just preparing to be the best and from there we will see who our rivals are and which riders can make things difficult for us in the races. For now I prefer to concentrate on myself and just try to go as fast as possible. I’m in a team with aspirations of winning the world title. We are one of the most professional outfits in the World Championship paddock and we will be expected to give our best in every race.”

Héctor Barberá, Fortuna Aprilia Team rider

“My goal is to become World Champion. The way to achieve that is to improve every day and enjoy myself on the bike. If the good results arrive then we can start to look at my rivals and come up with the best strategy to achieve the dream of every rider. I’m really excited about this year and I can’t wait to work and to make progress. When you are running up at the front everybody wants to help out so I aim to be competitive from the first session at Jerez.”

Dani Amatriaín, Fortuna Aprilia Team Director

“I want to thank the Balearic Government for the facilities they have put on for us to host this event in Palma de Mallorca. It is an important day because we are starting a new project, this time as the official factory Aprilia team, which will allow us to be competitive and fight for the World Championship title. Thanks to the support of Fortuna and Lotus this entire project has taken on a dimension which makes it one of the most competitive in the world.”

Carmen Abella, Director of Sponsorship for Altadis

“This is our fourth season of partnership with Dani Amatriaín and I say partnership because of the close relationship we have, which goes much further than mere sponsorship, and is crucial to the success of a project like this. We are very happy to have the support of Grupo Piaggio and their many excellent professionals, who will provide our riders Jorge Lorenzo and Héctor Barberá with the best possible material.”

Giampiero Sacchi, Aprilia Racing Sporting Manager

“We are at the start of a great project and we want to lend our support to the great job being done by Dani’s team. It is an enormous satisfaction to have Jorge and Héctor back with Piaggio, after Jorge began his career with Derbi and Héctor with Aprilia. We hope this adventure brings much success.”

Antonio Calderón, Marketing Director for Lotus

“We are part of a winning team and on behalf of the Festina group we believe we have the best partners in place to fight for the world title. Now we just have to play it in an intelligent way.”

Rosa Puig, Councillor for Sport in the Balearic Community

“Sportsmen like Jorge are the fruit of a lot of hard work, of which we feel very proud. Elite sportsmen such as him are an example for the Balearic youth and we will continue to help them achieve their objectives.”