Julien Bill about his time at Aprilia
Aprilia's time in the motocross world was relatively short-lived, but they were able to attract some top riders to the team. Joshua Coppins, Cédric Melotte and Manuel Priem, among others, became drivers for the Italian team with the unique twin-cylinder. Julien Bill was also one of them and the Swiss talent says it was a good experience in one way, but on the other hand he believes they didn't listen enough to the riders' point of view.
"It was a good experience in some ways, but very strange in other ways. They brought a lot of new positive things, their experience comes from MotoGP, with development and technology, but they were not enthusiastic enough to hear the riders' point of view and their choices“Bill told our colleagues at GateDrop.com.
Bill says it was difficult to test the bike and get competitive results at the same time because the engineers didn't listen enough to the riders' input. Bill's best time on the Aprilia was at the Motocross Des Nations in Franciacorta, Italy.
"Man, it was a tough time for me. It's not that I'm not good at testing or feeling the bike because I can feel a simple bolt vibrating on a bike while riding. But the engineers were really stuck on their ideas. They didn't like to change something if it wasn't in their plans. They didn't want to listen to the riders. I think that's why they lost so much time improving the engine.
Also, when the engine was running well, I asked so many times not to touch it anymore and try to get decent results. But they always had something new they wanted me to try, even during the Sunday games. The only weekend my bike really worked well was at the 2009 MX of Nations in Italy at Franciacorta. Maybe it was because I was the only rider representing the brand and they put all the right stuff they had on the bike that day,” Bill added.
Whatever anyone thinks about Aprilia, it's a shame that the motocross experiment never really worked because the sport needs as many manufacturers as possible. Maybe if they had listened more to their riders, they could have managed to have a good competition bike. Unfortunately, we'll probably never find out now.
Articles: Andy McKinstry
Photos: archive
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