The name Marcellino Lucchi goes unnoticed by the vast majority of motorcycling lovers, but the truth is that the Italian is an unofficial Aprilia test rider and has a long history with the manufacturer from Noale, and was one of those responsible for the path that today the RS -GP traveled to get where it is, in a much earlier period for the manufacturer.
Lucchi gave an interview to GPOne during the Aprilia All Stars where he spoke about his work for many years with the manufacturer and how he was never an official, full-time test rider – like Lorenzo Savadori for example – with him recalling his work with the RS Cube, and more recently with the Aprilia 500, as he explained quoted by Motosan: ‘I would say they are bikes that I know very well. With this 500 I didn’t do all the development, but I did two races there (Misano) because Doriano Romboni had been injured, and I must say I remember both races well.’
In a less technologically advanced phase, he who rode the 250cc for more than two decades, from 1982 until 2004, knows well how difficult it was to be in control of these motorcycles: ‘But it was a very difficult motorcycle to ride, a motorcycle that, with the electronics we had at that time, it was really difficult. The horses he had were too many for his weight. I would say the electronics were not adequate, so whoever drove it and could go fast was a good rider.’
The RS Cube would become useful for producing other bikes in the future, just as Lucchi explained: ‘The RS Cube was difficult at first. Aprilia was at the beginning of working with the electronics of a 4-stroke. There was a lot of power, but the delivery was very poor. It was much worse to ride than the 500. But little by little we started to improve certain aspects and there was still a lot of room to work, but then the project was closed, because we know that at that time Aprilia was sold to Piaggio ‘.
What is now the automaker’s V4 was the basis for the most current bikes: ‘However, the experience we had with the Cube was very useful for the V4, which became the basis of the RSV4, a winning bike. The experience that the technicians acquired with that Cube was very useful in creating the bikes that came later.’