Aprilia Builds a Four-Bike Wall Around Mandalika, Then Parks It in Everyone's Way
Aprilia's four riders finished 1-2-3-4 in Indonesia, so the team built a permanent wall of motorcycles around the circuit and now charges admission to see the exit.
Aprilia has built a wall of motorcycles around the Mandalika circuit and will not let anyone leave until they admit the four bikes are the greatest engineering achievement in human history. The wall is made of actual RS-GP machines, stacked four deep, and it circles the entire island of Lombok.
«We finished first, second, third and fourth,» said team principal Massimo Rivola, standing on a podium made from the fairings of every other manufacturer's bikes. «So we have decided that the race will not end. The wall stays. The championship is now a permanent exhibition of Aprilia superiority. Visitors may look at the wall from nine in the morning until sunset. Tickets are available at the gate.»
Jorge Martín, who reclaimed the championship lead by two points, was seen personally welding the final section of the wall shut while still in his racing leathers. «I have more rhythm than the wall,» he told reporters, «but the wall has more rhythm than Marc.»
Marc Márquez, who crashed out of second place, was reportedly trapped behind the wall for six hours and had to be extracted by a team of local mechanics using a very long ladder. He emerged to find that the wall had been extended by another two kilometres overnight.
By Thursday, the wall had grown to include a gift shop, a small chapel and a toll booth. Aprilia has announced that the wall will be dismantled only if every other team agrees to race the rest of the season on foot.
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