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Racing

WSBK: Duel Ends in Decisive Victory for Monza Race 1

By Victoria Reid 05/08/2011 1 Comment

Max Biaggi proved a point to start the first 2011 World Superbike race at home at Monza by being on the pole, breaking speed records and blowing away his own times along the way. The reigning Champion dominated Saturday’s Superpole sessions, going so far as to flog his Aprilia around the circuit whilst the rest of the riders sat in the garages, comfortable with Biaggi’s position. Eugene Laverty, Jonathan Rea, and Troy Corser joined him in starting on the front row, with Laverty’s lap time more than six tenths slower than Biaggi’s.

Even after dominating qualifying through the first three rounds, Carlos Checa had to settle for an eleventh starting position. Meanwhile, those who have not had such good fortune through the early season continued with their bad luck. James Toseland, set to make his return after a testing injury kept him from Donington Park and Assen, participated in Friday’s sessions, but not the final qualifying practice. Nor did he race, though he was busy signing autographs with that injured wrist through the weekend.

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Racing

WSBK: A Point Proven During Superpole at Monza

By Victoria Reid 05/06/2011 2 Comments

Racing for some redemption, Max Biaggi (1:41.745) proved a point in winning pole for the 2011 World Superbike round at Monza, returning to the track to best his own qualifying time after most riders had returned to their garages. Biaggi also bested his record top speed (334.8 kph/208.035 mph) from an earlier practice session in qualifying. He will be joined on the front row for his home race by Eugene Laverty, Jonathon Rea, and Troy Corser. Meanwhile, points leader Carlos Checa was knocked out in Superpole 2 and will start eleventh. Most riders fell afoul of the Monza chicane at least once, having their lap times ruined and deleted by cutting across the feature.

Rea (1:43.712) was the first to go fastest for the weekend, leading Corser, Badovini, and Biaggi in the first free practice on Friday morning. Haslam (1:42.934) took his turn to put the quick BMW on provisional pole in the afternoon qualifying practice, though it was Biaggi breaking the WSBK speed record that garnered more attention for the Italian in front of the home crowd. Laverty and Badovini, who was again quick Friday afternoon, completed the provisional front row. Meanwhile, James Toseland, Badovini’s returning teammate, was only twenty-first quickest in QP. Also recovering Chris Vermeulen did not ride in the afternoon session, after an off in the morning required a visit to the medical center and stitches on his elbow.

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Racing

Biaggi Breaks WSBK Top Speed Record at Monza

By Victoria Reid 05/06/2011 No Comments

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.

Though there will be another qualifying practice Saturday morning and the three sessions of Superpole yet to be held to determine the pole sitter for Sunday’s race, Biaggi is looking to gain back momentum lost in the debacle that was Donington Park. “We need to recover points and we have plenty of potential to be able to do so, even the Assen round showed that,” said Biaggi. He added, “Racing in Italy in front of my supporters will obviously give me a little more charge.” That charge led to the new record of 332.5 kph (206.62 mph) set by Biaggi on Friday.

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News

How Many Bids Were Made on Moto Morini Today?

By Jensen Beeler 04/13/2011 7 Comments

Zero. Nada. None. That’s the number of offers made on Moto Morni and its facilities during today’s bankruptcy auction proceedings. The beleaguered Italian motorcycle manufacturer has had a rough time of things, since its closure hit the newswires back in December 2009. Several suitors have come to the company’s door, trying to woo it into acquisition. First it was Paolo Berlusconi, who came close to finalizing a purchase of Moto Morini, before the unionized labor put the kibosh on the transaction, and Berlusconi walked from the business deal.

Perhaps unsurprisingly was the failure of any offer from Thomas Bleiner to materialize, despite the Austrain businessman’s great lengths to publicize his intentions of purchasing Moto Morini. Bleiner’s plan involved supplementing the motorcycle company’s income with a bank of solar panels, made by Bleiner’s other venture, that would be affixed to the Bologna factory’s rooftop. As was thought at the time, this announcement appears to be just a move to drum up some publicity for the photovoltic enterprise, and not a serious interest in Moto Morini.

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Bikes

Rendered: MV Agusta Brutale 675 B3

By Jensen Beeler 03/03/2011 5 Comments

Naturally with the new MV Agusta F3 supersport, which according to MV Agusta will be available in the Fall of 2011, comes the news that we’ll be seeing a naked version of the 675cc three-cylinder motorcycle. Dubbed the Brutalina by Castiglioni, the MV Agusta Brutale B3 675 seems a more appropriate and official name for the smaller Brutale, and is a sign the project is becoming more cohesive. While official details are still scarce, judging from how the larger predecessor compares to the venerable and iconic MV Agusta F4, we have some vague idea of how the Brutale B3 675 will compare to the now officially debuted F3.

Helping us form a more cohesive thought though is photoshop master Jérôme Vannesson, of French magazine Moto Revue, and thankfully he has done up some renders on what the MV Agusta Brutale B3 675 could look like. Vannesson’s work is flawless, and in the past he’s been spot on with the design cues used by the OEMs. Time will tell if MV Agusta follows Vannesson’s line of thought, but until the Brutale B3 unveils, we’ll have to drool over his renders instead. Check Moto Revue‘s site for all four of Vannesson’s photochops (we like the black and white bike with the red frame the most).

Source: Moto Revue

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Racing

Honda Now Has Five Factory Riders – Knights San Carlo Honda Gresini as a Factory Squad

By Jensen Beeler 03/02/2011 9 Comments

How serious is Honda about winning the 2011 MotoGP World Championship? At Team Gresini’s MotoGP launch at Monza today, it was quietly confirmed that the San Carlo Honda Gresini squad has been given the keys to the candy store, turning the team into a factory-backed effort. While Marco Simoncelli was already assured factory support from Honda for the 2011 season, the move adds Hiroshi Aoyama to the factory rider list, and likely makes Gresini’s life infinitely less complex by not having to manage between a factory and non-factory split garage.

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News

For Sale: One Italian Motorcycle Company – Slightly Used

By Jensen Beeler 02/18/2011 10 Comments

Moto Morini’s bankruptcy has been going painfully slow, but it’s all about to come to a head, as the Italian company will be put up on the auction block April 13th. The Super-Saver Moto Morini package includes all the appropriate intellectual property, assets, and equipment (sans motorcycles, which are being sold separately) for the cool sum of €5.5 million. Should no one want the whole kit ‘n kaboodle, a cheaper price of €2.6 million will be set for the production complex with two years use included. These prices are of course the auction’s guide prices.

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Banter

Video: Vintage Cycle Service

By Jensen Beeler 02/06/2011 3 Comments

Maybe it’s the low-key feel-good guitar music, or the fact that this video is about a small motorcycle mechanic based in the picturesque city of Florence, Italy (a villa this author used to live in), but there is something about this short film that just makes us feel good about life, motorcycling, and everything else. Promoting a specialty shop for vintage Harley-Davidson motorcycles, the time and effort gone into this five+ minute video is perhaps indicative of the sort of service you’d find at Vintage Cycle Service of Firenze.

With macro shots of some of the finer things regarding zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, we get a glimpse not only on the rich heritage of the Milwaukee brand (note the AMF co-branded tanks scattered about), but a full-immersion into the off-beaten path of motorcycle culture (note the human skull in open-face helmet). You could probably spend hours poking around this shop, looking at different interesting items…or just whittle the time away as the mechanic perfects one of America’s less-than-perfect designs.

The quality is so good, we thought for almost a minute that Harley-Davidson had finally put together a compelling demand marketing campaign, nope just some guys who love bikes and film, achieving what a Fortune 500 company cannot.

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Bikes

Vyrus 986 M2 – Soon to Infect Moto2 & Showroom Floors

By Jensen Beeler 01/13/2011 14 Comments

You remember Vyrus right? The company that makes the Vyrus 987 C3 4V…the Bimota Tesi look-alike with a Ducati 1198 motor, hub-steering, and a supercharger? Not willing to rest on its laurels as having “the most powerful production motorcycle in the world” (211hp gets you that title), the small Italian boutique firm seems set to enter Moto2 racing with its new Vyrus 986 M2 race bike, whose preliminary concept photo has just leaked out of the Rimini factory.

Taking the idea of prototype racing to its fullest dimension with its hub-center steering design, perhaps the only thing more exciting than the prospect of seeing a few of these Vyrus 986 M2’s at 18 of motorcycling’s best venues, is the prospect that a road-based version of the machine could be siting in our garage later this year (assuming we could afford such things). Details after the jump.

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Banter

Lost in Translation: Valentino Rossi’s First Interview

By Jensen Beeler 11/18/2010 4 Comments

Further proof that we still have some differences from our neighbors in Europe, there is this video of Valentino Rossi on Italian variety show “Striscia la Notizia”. His first interview since , and that he’ll be missing the Monza Rally (Marco Simoncelli will be taking his place). And yes…that’s a toilet plunger on that man’s head, welcome to late night Italian television.

Source: Two Wheels Blog

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Racing

The Roman Emperor Clinches World Superbike

By Jensen Beeler 09/26/2010 7 Comments

Without giving too much away about this weekend’s WSBK race, Max Biaggi clinched the World Superbike Championship at Imola this weekend. For fans in Italy, this moment is being celebrated heavily, as an Italian rider, on an Italian bike, during an Italian race, has clinched a major championship title. For Biaggi fans, this title has been a long-time in the making, as The Emperor hasn’t won a championship title since his 250GP days.

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