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Lately we have seen a lot of car manufacturers taking an interest in the two-wheeled world — Audi bought Ducati from Investindustrial, and MV Agusta is expected to announce that Mecerdes-AMG is taking a minority stake in the Italian motorcycle company.

These collaborations and consolidations make a lot of sense from a business perspective: economies of scale, common four-stroke technology, shared R&D, and CAFE standard benefits, just to name a few.

So that’s why the latest news that Ferrari has filed a patent on a motorcycle engine doesn’t surprise us in concept. Nor does the press’ intensity of the subject.

We’ve covered the Lazareth Wazuma before, in its E85 drinking BMW V12 semi-bio-friendly form. Of course when you’ve already built a 500hp supercharged slede that makes mothers lock up their daughters, there isn’t much stopping you from pushing the limits even further, as is the case with Lazareth’s latest iteration of the Wazuma platform. Now powered by a Ferrari V8 motor, the Lazareth Wazuma V8F boasts other fun items like its BMW M3 gearbox, with push-to-shift controls embedded into the four-wheeler’s handlebars.

Despite its four wheels, the Lazareth Wazuma V8F is more like a trike than a quad, and has been made so the rear-wheels are close together like road-going trike, and make one virtual über-wheel-of-death that has a contact patch larger than the hole Richard Nixon left in the American psyche after he stepped down from office. Catering to the “I’m not a crook” crowd, Lazareth has posted this monster of a machine on JamesList, the Craigslist of the 1%, and is asking for a mere €200,000 in exchange for ownership of the French-made machine.

Motor Trend has weighed in on the great debate: which is faster, a car or a bike? Wanting to explore the issue with some style, the car mag proved prints isn’t dead, and took a Ferrari 458 and Ducati 1198S Superbike to the track to see which Rosso Corsa was fastest. With a quarter-mile drag and a lap around the Streets of Willow, MT has its definitive answer on which is the fastest Italian, but we imagine the answer to what form of transportation is ultimately faster will remain an open debate for a while longer. The video is after the jump, stop watching at the 8:22 mark if you don’t want to hear a bunch of excuses being made.

Fiat Chairman Luca di Montezemolo has thrown some more fuel on the never-ending fires about a Valentino Rossi’s rumored switch to Formula One racing. Fiat as you might remember is the title sponsor of the factory Yamaha MotoGP team, and also the parent company to Ferrari. In what he calls a “great idea”, di Montezemolo made it clear that he would like to see the seven-time World Champion driving for Corse Rosa.