Though provisional pole went to Leon Haslam in Friday afternoon’s World Superbike qualifying practice at Monza, reigning World Champion Max Biaggi made headlines of his own by breaking the WSBK top speed record. Despite this feat, Haslam outqualified the Italian at home by just 0.019s in a final lap dash, with Eugene Laverty and Ayrton Badovini completing the provisional front row for Yamaha and BMW Motorrad Italia. “Racing in Italy in front of my supporters will obviously give me a little more charge,” said Biaggi.
The rumors are true, Husqvarna is set to bring out a street bike (or five if you believe some reports) in the coming months (expect a November unveiling). Accordingly the Swedish brand, which operates out of Italy and is owned by a German company (Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego anyone?), has released some photos and details about its 900cc parallel twin motor that takes more than a couples cues from its BMW counterpart. Announcing that it will bring out a road-oriented concept vehicle, Husqvarna will focus on fun, power, and versatility for its first street machine.
We heard a rumor that Roehr was teaming up with Hyosung to build an electric streetbike, and low and behold…
We just got an update from Richard Hatfield at Lightning Motors about his team’s progress on the 2011 “Flying Banana” (there’s no escaping that name Richard), and without having seen all the bikes for this racing season, we would peg Lightning’s as the one to beat. When we talked to Lightning at the end of last season, the stated goal for the 2011 bike was to remove 150 lbs, and add 50hp to the machine. With the parts coming together, Hatfield informs us that the team is on-track to achieve that goal – translation: this bike is going to be wicked fast and agile…and of course, yellow.
Ducati isn’t the only Italian manufacturer coming out with a new motorcycle for 2012, as we get our first look at the 2012 MV Agusta F4 RR Corsacorta. Making 198hp (18hp over your standard F4), the new MV features a short-stroke “Corsacorta” motor. We can expect to see the 2012 MV Agusta F4 RR Corsacorta hit dealers this summer, with a price tag of somewhere in the neighborhood of $30,000+. MV Agusta is noticeably ramping up its product line offering now that it is back in the hands of the Castiglioni family.
Since we first heard about it, we’ve been less than patiently waiting for Mark Neale’s next opus Charge, a movie about the first zero-emissions motorcycle race, which was held during the 2009 Isle of Man TT. Now we get word from the movie’s Facebook page that Charge will be available in about a week’s time, and we’re downright giddy about it. Check the DVD library of any die hard MotoGP fan, and you’ll find Neale’s Faster, an iconic movie about MotoGP’s shift from two-stroke to four-stroke motors — we imagine Charge will have this same point of reference appeal to electric motorcycle enthusiasts, and eventually motorcyclists as a whole.