MotoGP | Max Biaggi turns 50! Best wishes from Aprilia

June 26th is an important anniversary, yet another milestone achieved by a great champion: the six-time world champion Max Biaggi turns 50, or perhaps it would be better to call them seasons.

A life, that of the Roman driver, marked by successes on tracks all over the world. Many of which proudly signed Aprilia, a brand of which he is now a valued ambassador. From the roaring years of the four consecutive 250 World Championships to the return in style to Superbike, the story between Max and Aprilia is a long winning story. First to bring the Venetian quarter-litre to world championship success, first Italian, and on an Italian motorbike, World Superbike Champion, the list of records is long and reflects the value shown on the track.

Without following the rules, debuting relatively late compared to practice on the strength of pure natural talent. Until his return to the podium with a wildcard in the WSBK world championship in Malaysia in 2015, almost three years after retiring, he had the flavor of a legend. It is a pleasure to remember him today on the occasion of a special anniversary for the men's Max Biaggi, to whom Aprilia and the Piaggio Group send our best wishes.

“This is also a great achievement, and it's nice to celebrate it with many friends, with the whole big Aprilia family and celebrate together the many victories we achieved together on tracks all over the world,” said Max Biaggi. “Above all, I am proud to have been the most successful rider ever for Aprilia and having added the two SBK titles really has a special flavour, because we achieved them many years after the world championships won in 250. Like having scored with those triumphs two eras so different and so important. But I must say that now our thoughts are always turned forward, to the challenges that await us. With Aprilia and with many rider friends and former champions I continue to love and frequent the track. Testing myself, always being fast is a goal that I hope I will never lose. See you on the track, at the next outing with my RSV4."

Max Biaggi, Roman, born in 1971, began his motorcycling career in 1989 at the age of 18, making his debut in the 125 cc category and a year later he was already Italian champion in the "Sport Production" category.
Max, immediately appreciated for his effective and clean driving style, reveals his talent with each step up in category. In 1991 he was already in the 250 world championship with Aprilia. The 250 title in 1994 was the first of an exceptional hat-trick that saw him dominate on the Italian bike until 1996.

In the "quarter-litre" class Max collected results never achieved by anyone in the history of the MotoGP: greater number of pole positions, greater number of podiums in the category and 4 world titles won (three with Aprilia) consecutively from '94 to '97. In 1998, the debut in the 500 displacement came on Honda. The debut in Suzuka was memorable, where Max achieved the hat-trick: pole position, victory and fastest lap in the race, a feat achieved only by the Finn Jarno Saarinen 25 years earlier. At the end of the season Max will be second in the world championship.

In 1999 Biaggi moved to Yamaha and began a progressive rise: he ranked fourth in the first year, improved in 2000 with a third place and improved further in 2001, concluding the season with a second place. The 2002 season had the same epilogue, marked by the change in the regulations of the premier class and the birth of MotoGP.

It was 2003 when Biaggi moved to Honda, with Sito Pons' private team he achieved third position in the standings in 2004; in 2005 he was a driver for the Repsol HRC team. In 2007 Max made his debut in Superbike with Suzuki. Once again Max amazes everyone on his debut on the Qatar track: he wins in Race 1 and finishes second in Race 2. The season is characterized by the fight for the World Championship which will see Max miss the title by only eight points.

In 2009 Biaggi returned to Aprilia to ride the futuristic Aprilia RSV4 which marked the return of the Noale company to the SBK World Championship. Aprilia has never won the Superbike title and with the new RSV4 it is attempting to attack the championship in competitions reserved for large displacement 4-strokes. It's a triumph: Max leads the Italian V4 to victory in its debut season and dominates in 2010 and 2012, winning the double world title, Drivers' and Constructors', the first and only Italian to succeed in the feat. He retired from racing after the 2012 laurel with the palmares of six World Titles in his career but the lure of the track brought him back to the race in 2015. Entered as a wild card in the Malaysian stage of the SBK World Championship, he achieved an extraordinary podium on the Sepang track, reiterating, at 44 years old, and almost three years after the last race, the talent of a champion and the competitiveness of the Aprilia RSV4 project.