Italian Max Biaggi will return with Aprilia for the 2011 and 2012 seasons in WSBK.

Aprilia Racing and Max Biaggi will remain together for two more seasons, the 2010 World Superbike Champion signing with the Italian manufacturer for 2011 and 2012 this week after speculation had been rife that he was considering retirement.

2010 was an extraordinary year in sport for the Biaggi-Aprilia duo in World SBK as they posted 10 victories, four double wins and another four podiums, which led the five-time champion to take the rider world championship (the first Italian in motorcycling history) and Aprilia to its first triumph in the WSBK manufacturer standings.

“I’m obviously very happy to be continuing this winning adventure in World SBK with Aprilia,” Biaggi stated. “After an exciting but tiring season, after many years of racing and many victories, it was only natural and right to stop and think, to reflect on such an important future commitment.

“And in my considerations a very decisive factor was, as it was at the beginning of this adventure with Aprilia, the fact that I feel so close to a team and a company which is so capable and so focussed on the sports objective.

“Now we need to prepare as best as we can for next season. We are well aware that we cannot rest on our laurels and that we will be in all of our rivals’ sights. But now I am also sure that we will be highly motivated at the start of the first race, with a bike which I have brought up and which I did not want to abandon, ready to die hard – extremely hard.”

With confirmation of the Biaggi-Aprilia association, one of the most victorious pairs in sports history is renewed as Biaggi boasts five world championships in a record time frame, considering the fact that sixteen years have passed since his first 250GP World Championship and this year’s WSBK title.

Aprilia boasts a collection of 45 world titles and, with 277 victories in GP, it is the most victorious name in the history of MotoGP.