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Aprilia World

Tuono Passion: Max Temporali looks back

After 18 years of distinguished service, Aprilia Tuono remains at the very top of the supernaked category. From the legendary 2002 RSV Mille Tuono R Limited Edition to the current V4 1100 R and Factory MY20, numerous technical evolutions have taken place, while countless enthusiasts all around the world have chosen to experience the thunderous thrill of riding this beauty. Among them — or rather, among us — is a former racer who fell madly in love with Aprilia Tuono, hitting the track with the iconic roadster and picking up countless wins, including some for the history books! 

Max Temporali was born in 1974 and is known today as a Superbike commentator for Sky Italia TV. A reporter and tester with a racing past at both the national and international level, he has a long competitive track record aboard various iterations of the Aprilia Tuono. And Max has definitely not recovered from his “addiction” to the legendary roadster from Noale, which remains a big part of his present and — we suspect — his future.
Speaking to an audience of die-hard enthusiasts like himself, he sat down for an interview about his own “Tuono Passion”, full of interesting anecdotes and little-known facts!

Max, your list of achievements aboard the Tuono is almost endless, but your racing career and your relationship with Aprilia date back even further, right?
«Shall we start from the beginning? I was 5 years old the first time I fell in love with an Aprilia: a beautiful yellow Aprilia BMX bicycle, with red rims and the famous “A”. Not many know this, but in the early ’80s Aprilia was among the first to introduce BMX bikes to the European market!
Motorbikes were always in my destiny: my father used to race in the ’70s, so that’s all we talked about at home. Those were the early days of Loris Reggiani, who was already impressive but still not one of the top guys; and yet, he and his Aprilia were special to me, they were the best.
In 1987, I was about to turn 14 and I was ready for my first 50cc. My mind was made up: I wanted an Aprilia AF1 50! Amazing, I still get goosebumps looking at its picture. Sadly, the picture is all I got, because my dad, as a former speed demon, was weary of instilling that same passion in me from the start, so he ended up getting me a small enduro bike with gears. But it wouldn’t last: when I turned 16 I got an Aprilia AF1 Sintesi Sport. It was the limited series, recognisable from the fluorescent green front mudguard: the first Aprilia conceived for the Italian Sport Production (SP) Championship. It was super fast, reaching 180 km/h. It was a beast, and I was a madman. We would speed away in full racing gear on the Serravalle, a scary highway section in the Apennines with massive curves. Of course, 125cc bikes weren’t even permitted on that highway; we could have killed ourselves, and now I realise how dumb I was back then.
Soon enough, my father grabbed me by the ear and told me: Look, either cut it out or go do it on the track, and see if you’ve really got what it takes”».

So your “racing school” was the legendary Sport Production?
«Exactly. It was 1991, I was 17 and I was aboard my Aprilia getting ready for the first race of the Italian Sport Production Championship in Varano de’ Melegari. The starting grid was so jam-packed it felt like being at the beach in Riccione! It’s amazing how popular that series was. Just consider that nowadays the 300-class has, what, 30 to 40 racers? Back then there were 151 participants just in the Under-21 class, plus all the Over-21 racers. They had to split us into 4 geographic areas, I was in the north one, group “A”, and we still had to race in sub-groups, with the best moving on to the group A final. With a bit of luck, I was able to place in the top spots and qualified for the final. I finished 14th, even though I got lapped, and I picked up 2 points, the very first points of my career. As far as emotions, that remains my number one racing memory. It’s really thrilling that Aprilia is now drawing inspiration from that event to create the Italian Aprilia Sport Production Championship.
I did three seasons in the SP: ’91, ’92 and ’93, even though I only rode an Aprilia the first year. That was the window my parents had given me to figure out if I really wanted to make a living with motorcycle racing. At the time, parents would set money aside for their kids’ wedding, and all in all, the amount was enough for 3 years of competing. “If you want to spend them all on racing, you need to realise that when you move out you won’t have a penny”. Of course, I decided to do just that, hoping it would lead to bigger and better things. And sure enough, it did».

When did you go back to racing for Aprilia?
«In ‘94 and ‘95 I raced in the Suzuki 250 series, but it was a “colder” environment and you didn’t get the sense that you could progress any further.
Aprilia was always great at making you feel that you could move up the ranks and dream big. So in 1996 I signed up for the Aprilia Challenge 250. That was its first year, and I found just what I was looking for. It was about 60 of us competing, and at the end of the season, the best riders from all countries took part in a final event held at Vallelunga. I made it onto the podium in both races, which was very rewarding.
The following years, I raced for different brands in various series, on 600s, on scooters, supermonos, all the way to the Italian Superstock series, which I did from 2000 to 2002. Around that time I started to realise that I was pretty good, but lacked the mindset of true motorcycle champions.
In the meanwhile, I’d begun working as a reporter. And in 1998 I started working with Aprilia on its demo rides and its 125cc racing school for young riders. During one of these events I had the opportunity to try the new RSV Mille and I fell in love with it, so I asked if I could race it. They signed me up for the 200 miles of Monza, on my home track, with a stock bike, teamed up with the well-known Aprilia test rider Fabrizio Pellizzon. Even though there were two separate standings, SBK and STK, I was really fast in qualifying and we started the race up front next to the Superbikes. Shortly before the start, my Aprilia contact who had organised the whole thing said to me: “Remember, it’s a long race, it doesn’t end after one lap”. Boy, was he wrong: I went flying into the grass at the very first turn and… that was that. It was disappointing because that was a great bike, but I more than redeemed myself two years later with the Tuono!»

Finally! Tell us about your first encounter with Aprilia Tuono.
«In 2002 I got a call from Claudio Pavanello, who was the Aprilia press officer at the time. He said: “We have this new bike, it’s called Tuono, and there’s a thing called the Italian Naked Bike Championship. Why don’t you try doing a race? There’s one in 10 days”. How could I refuse?

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