From an Aprilia press release:
“Spiderman” Marco Melandri at Mugello
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of his debut, the great comic-book hero has now made the silver screen: SPIDERMAN is on its way to Italian cinemas, and Colombia Pictures has chosen Aprilia to promote the film in Italy. This morning, the special SPIDERMAN livery adorning the official Aprilia rider Marco Melandri’s RSW 250 was presented to the Press. The livery is custom-made, but Marco’s riding-suit and helmet also bear faithful reproductions of the great comic-book hero.
In the first week of screening in US cinemas, SPIDERMAN broke all the records ever set in the history of the cinema, with box-office takings of 114 million dollars.
SPIDERMAN will be showing in Italian cinemas as from 7 June.
For the entire Mugello Grand Prix weekend, Marco Melandri will be racing with a new look: that of SPIDERMAN.
Friday’s 250cc Qualifying Times:
1. Marco Melandri, Aprilia, 1:55.212
2. Sebastian Porto, Yamaha, 1:55.404
3. Roberto Locatelli, Aprilia, 1:55.407
4. Franco Battaini, Aprilia, 1:55.539
5. Fonsi Nieto, Aprilia, 1:55.960
6. Randy De Puniet, Aprilia, 1:56.210
7. Tony Elias, Aprilia, 1:56.570
8. Alex Debon, Aprilia, 1:56.651
9. Emilio Alzamora, Honda, 1:56.801
10. Shahrol Yuzy, Yamaha, 1:56.930
11. Naoki Matsudo, Yamaha, 1:57.228
12. Roberto Rolfo, Honda, 1:57.239
13. David Checa, Aprilia, 1:57.298
14. Casey Stoner, Aprilia, 1:57.633
15. Haruchika Aoki, Honda, 1:57.852
More, from Aprilia’s post-qualifying press release:
Marco “SPIDERMAN” Melandri takes provisional pole
Marco raced the last laps of the qualifying session like greased lightning, and it was on the very last time round, when the Ravenna-born ace was fighting off the attacks of his opponents, that he made provisional pole.
Marco Melandri, today with his “SPIDERMAN” look, showed off his bike, racing suit and helmet inspired by the great comic-book hero who this year, forty years after his creation, has become a hit movie. An all-time box-office record in the first week of screening in US cinemas. The film will be showing in Italy as from 7 June. Marco Melandri, the spider hero for the entire weekend at Mugello, today gave a true taste of his extraordinary “powers”.
Marco Melandri # 3 (MS APRILIA RACING) – 1st – 1’55.212
“I didn’t see the lap time on my bike’s display, so I didn’t know if I’d made pole or not, but I could feel I was going fast and well. We’re a bit behind on our work to choose the race tyres because I’m doing comparative tests, which take up rather a long time. The bike I used for the final provisional pole, has a different front drive unit, so I didn’t have a perfect feeling at the beginning of the session, but then things got better. The SPIDERMAN livery looks great: you can’t appreciate it when sitting in the saddle but I saw it in some of the replays on television. I think that kids who don’t usually watch motorcycling racing are going to like it, so maybe this time they’ll get interested when they see these pictures of SPIDERMAN on television.”