Aside from one or two suspiciously similar motorcycles a year, we don’t often hear from the Italian brand of Bimota. Known for building exotic motorcycles that feature custom frames around production motors (now, what does that sound like?), Bimota used to sample the best engines from all the manufacturers, but lately the motorcycle company seems to favor almost exclusively another certain Italian company in Bologna.

There was also a point in time where Bimota raced its designs, helping the small firm earn a reputation not only for its aesthetic graces, but also for its technical prowess. Hoping to return to its roots with that latter element, Bimota was caught on the track in Spain recently. Testing at the Almeria track, Ruben Xaus (yes, that Ruben Xaus) has settled into his new job as Bimota’s Sporting Director quite nicely.

Xaus is helping the small Italian company improve upon its Bimota HB4 Moto2 bike and Bimota DB8 Superbike. With this testing, Bimota is teasing the possibility of the Ducati 1198-powered Bimota DB8 making a World Superbike wild card appearance for the 2012 season.