Interview with Germano Bergamo – Part 1
SLICK EXCERPT #19
Impossible to solve the problems the engine was causing. The premise is already an announcement: “It was impossible to compensate with the chassis for the problems created by such a violent engine. The engine, because of its power-explosion characteristics, actually overpowered any tests we did from the chassis point of view.”
And since Germano Bergamo, one of the foremost authorities on chassis and the designer of the RS Cube, says so, it must be considered a judgment and not an opinion. “And eventually they realized this in Cosworth as well,” he adds, in a low but firm tone of voice. “The engine should have been less explosive and more controlled already, that is, as a design, also because the electronics were very immature at that time and could not handle that kind of engine. At least, not fully.”
And then the conclusion comes to itself: if even Aprilia’s chassis engineers could not make the RS Cube manageable (by riders) in the three versions that raced from 2002 to 2004, it means that that engine was simply and glaringly unsuitable for motorcycling. After all, it had been designed based on automotive concepts. Could a different result have been expected?
However, if we stopped here we would only be telling one of the many typical stories of the racing world – i.e., unfulfilled expectations, frustrated riders, discontent, criticism, controversy – and instead there is so much more to reveal and explain: “The Cube has turned into an invaluable laboratory, through which we have developed so much technology that has served to make other bikes successful,” stresses Germano Bergamo, aligning himself with the opinion of his fellow Aprilia Racing designers.
“I give just a few examples. The Gilera (Aprilia) 250 that won with Sic had many solutions taken from the Cube, as did the RSV4 that won in Superbike with Biaggi. And even the current RS-GP has solutions derived from the Cube.”
The reason is clear, but it’s better when you hear it from someone like him: “We put so much time and energy into trying to solve the problems the Cube had that we were able to gain so much experience and new insights. That’s why we had a lot of expectations on “5”: we all had a great desire to verify the result of three years of very intense work.
But the new society had different ideas; what happened was not up to us in racing.” What happened, as soon as the Piaggio Group absorbed Aprilia, we know well. And in any case we talk about it separately. This is a different journey, and some instructions need to be given before we begin. The “5” is the 2005 version of the RS Cube, that is, the bike that never raced.
Germano Bergamo also catalogs the evolution of Project Cube by summary: “2” is the first (the 2002 version), then there are “3” (from 2003) and “4” (from 2004).
Finally the “5,” an extremely important project.
Germano Bergamo has Aprilia in his heart, as well as in his mind: he was born in Noale, just like the company, and lives a handful of kilometers from the racing department where legendary motorcycles that he also helped design were born.
He joined Aprilia after his studies, in 1990, and hasn’t moved since. “Let’s say I’ve kind of gone through the whole classical gavetta,” he says, with surprising modesty for someone in his position.
Today he is “Coordinator of all Vehicle Designers in Aprilia Racing,” and in the past he was not only the designer of the RS Cube chassis: he put his ideas and studies on all the projects of this racing department, which has won 54 world titles in its history.
“When I joined Aprilia in 1990, I started as a draftsman for 125s. Those were the days when I worked on a drafting machine, so by hand. A couple of years later I started working with the first two-dimensional and then three-dimensional CAD, and I moved on to the 250 and 500 two-stroke designs.”
So he has worked on all the great Aprilia projects of the last 30 years. Cube aside, he was responsible for designing the frames of the dominant 125 and 250 2T, then the 500 two-cylinder 2T, as well as the spectacular RSV4 SBK. He even put his ideas on the Dakar version of the Aprilia.
That’s why when Aprilia decided to enter the world of four-strokes at the highest level, MotoGP, they obviously called him too.