After a mere 4 months since spending two weeks in intensive care following a nasty crash in the Japanese MotoGP Alex de Angelis will be making his World Superbike debut aboard the Aprilia.
He acknowledges that he not only has to adapt to new machinery, he will need to test his physical condition after such a long period off a bike.
Phillip Island will be his first chance to test the bike and himself after missing the pre-season sessions in Spain.
“In the test I’ll get my first taste of a Superbike, which I’ve never tried before. I’m sure that IodaRacing have a greater chance of doing well in WorldSBK as opposed to MotoGP and I hope to get back into the top positions, which I haven’t been able to do for a while and I miss it.
“The Aprilia was a winning bike at the end of 2015 and we will have to see what the difference is now after the other marques have been working over the winter. I expect and hope that Aprilia won’t just prove a supplier but also an integral part of the team.
“I regret not having been able to test over the winter, but it is what it is and we’ll use the first couple of races as a test and make progress as soon as possible.