Upgraded Aitchison ready for Imola WSBK round

After a disappointing start to the 2012 season at his home track of Phillip Island, Aitchison is confident the upgrades will make a difference at Imola. The Grillini BMW team will be rolling out a new-spec engine and electronics package for Aitchison's S1000 RR at Imola, as well as a different gearbox.

"I can certainly say that the first day of practice and qualifying should be pretty interesting," said Aitchison. "We gathered a lot of data on the S1000 RR at the opening round in Australia, but we really haven't had a chance to confirm what was learnt as the bikes only arrived back at our Italian base quite recently.

"But once we actually get some testing under our belts and the team and I are working in a good direction, we can then really start striving for some top 10 results.

"It was great to have three other Aussies on the grid at Phillip Island, but now that it's only me it won't affect my outlook on each race. Of course I'm very proud to represent my country, but really I'm here to do the best job I can each and every time."

The 29-year-old, from Tumbi Umbi near Gosford (NSW), finished 18th in his debut race for the Italian-based Grillini team at Phillip Island, but was among a number of retirees in the second outing.

Imola, located about 40km south-east of Bologna, is a racetrack with a challenging stop-and-go character, suited to those bikes which not only carry a lot of corner speed, but also where acceleration is critical. Traditionally that's been a Ducati trait, which is probably why the Italian machine has won 11 of the 17 WSBK races at Imola, well ahead of Honda (five) and Aprilia (one). Over the past two seasons, defending Superbike champion, Carlos Checa has owned the Imola round, the Spaniard winning three of the four races there, with Rea victorious in the other.

Round 2 of the 2012 World Superbike Championship takes place at Imola this Sunday, April 1st.