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Husqvarna has opened a new headquarters in Varese, Italy this week. The three-story building will include not only offices for the Husqvarna staff, but also will include a testing cetner, and production center for prototype and racing motorycles.

At home in Varese is Husqvarna’s development team, and the new HQ will include a presentation center and showroom for the team to show off their latest creations. Additionally, there is a small area that has been dedicated to top models and photographs from Husqvarna history, which may interest tourists.

Despite being 6th fastest in today’s World Superbike testing at Imola, Italy, John Hopkins may not be at Brno in two weeks, when WSBK takes up racing again. After yesterday’s off, Hopkins was in pain through out the night, and after this mornings testing session, the American had some X-rays taken of his leg.

After looking at the results of his X-ray, doctors here in the US determined that Hopkin’s bones were not developing calcium deposits properly, and diagnosed him with osteoporosis. This finding leaves some doubt as to whether Hopper will be on his Honda at Brno, since a crash there would likely have dire consequences on his body in its current state.

Michael Fabrizio was the fastest man of the day while testing at Imola today for World Superbike. He was followed closely by Ben Spies, who was just a tenth of second behind the Italian rider.

Notably absent from the testing day was the injured Noriyuki Haga, who isn’t expected to be back to WSBK until the race at Brno, which is in two weeks.

However, noticably present near the top of the leaderboard was Ruben Xaus, with the BMW squad clearly making some progress with their $13,800 motorcycle.

World Superbike would see sunnier skies off the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and a Misano track almost completely devoid of any sign of prior rain for Race 2. Slicks would now be the order of the day, which probably came as a relief to a few riders who were less than graceful in their bike swapping in Race 1. With the change in conditions came a complete change in the racing order. Continue reading to see how Race 2 went down under the Italian sun.

World Superbike riders at Misano, Italy today were greated to a damp track, courtesy of the on-and-off rain showers that have been plaguing the race course the whole weekend. With the track wet, but the sun out, tire selection would again be key.

Would the track dry out enough to run intermediates? Would some teams dry and run rains? Could there possibly be a chance to run slicks? Who would make the right choice by the start of the race? With WSBK adopting the flag-to-flag rules of MotoGP, riders would have a chance to come into the pits and swap for a new bike as the track conditions changed, making the racing all the more interesting, as many riders in the field had never performed such a swap before. Continue reading to see who got it right.

hells-angels

As a part of Europe-wide police crackdown, more than 20 Hells Angels members were arrested in Italy today. Members of the motorcycle gang were picked up in the cities of: Verona, Vicenza, Padova, Treviso, Roma, Milano, Torino, Trieste, Cuneo, La Spezia, Pordenone, Lucca, Pavia, and Massa Carrara, with similar operations taking place in Germany and France.

At the arrests, weapons were seized from the bikers, and charges included robbery and extortion. Although, we have a feeling that list will grow after these detainees have been interviewed by police interrogators.

Italian to the core, the Hells Angels of Italy are headquartered in the picturesque and fair town of Verona, although today Verona may seem less funny to the gang members than William Shakespeare thought it to be. Reportedly, more than 140 Hell’s Angels members have been staked out at the hideout, with full guards at the door. Various weapons have been confiscated and more news is awaited on the results of the European wide arrests.

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loris-capirossi-best-braker-mugello

How could we talk about , and not touch on the slowest man of Mugello? No we don’t mean Sete Gibernau who has had a remarkably unremarkable season. We mean the Luxors of Late Braking, the Princes of Passing, and the Bastards of Barging in, those rider who hold on for just a split second longer than the rest before grabbing a fistful of brake after a long straight away.

Well, he clever folk at Brembo did some analytic interpretations from the data-logging the teams used at Mugello, and have figured out who the best brakers were at the Italian circuit this weekend. Results after the jump.