It was unveiled at the Bologna Motor Show in December 2001 by Aprilia's president, Ivano Beggio, and their race boss, Jan Witteveen.

The highly innovative engine and control system was poorly matched with the chassis which was too stiff and unforgiving.

Through the 2002 season a handful of updates were made and in 2003 a 3-2-1 exhaust system was added to effectively de-tune the engine.

Despite early promise the bike was not a success; the innovation shown in the 2002 season with traction control and drive by wire is only now[when?]

The engine design and development was carried out by a small team at Cosworth Racing in Northampton and went from CAD to track in 8 months.