WSBK – Bimota enters WSBK 2014 with Alstare – Occasions BIMOTA

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Bimota commits to WSBK 2014 with Alstare

WSBK - Bimota enters WSBK 2014 with Alstare - Occasions BIMOTA

Bimota has just announced its return to World Superbike! The Italian brand is entering the new Evo category for the 2014 season in partnership with the Alstare team. The new BB3 motorcycles will be entrusted to Ayrton Badovini and Christian Iddon.

The World Superbike is full in 2014: after MV Agusta and Eric Buell Racing, it’s Bimota’s turn to announce its big comeback in motorcycle racing! Mentioned, the commitment is this time firm and official.

The Italian brand, bought in September by the two transalpine businessmen Marco Chiancianesi and Daniele Longoni, will line up its BB3 unveiled at the last EICMA show in Milan and not the old DB8 model tested by Ruben Xaus.

Get approved first !

In its official press release, Team Bimota Alstare Racing specifies that its participation in the 2014 Superbike World Championship remains subject to BB3 approval by the Federation internationale de motocyclisme (FIM) and the Motorcycle Sports Manufacturers’ Association (MSMA).

"The regulations are very clear on this subject", says the Federation questioned by Site:"the manufacturer must present his machine to us before January 31 and have produced 125 units at the time of approval, then 2,000 units in two years, against 3,000 per year before the 2008 crisis which destabilized the motorcycle market, sporty in particular".

Time is therefore running out for Bimota, as it is for Buell for that matter. "It is perfectly possible for a brand to register during the season", continues the FIM. Will the field be in full force on February 23 at Phillip Island? Nothing is less certain … To be continued on MNC: stay tuned !

The preparation of the brand new bike will be entrusted to the excellent Alstare team, eager to bounce back from their sad abortive experience with Ducati (read). Francis Batta and his men will also be responsible for the development of future Bimota models and that of their future Moto2..

"I am very happy and enthusiastic about this long-term global project with Bimota, a famous and highly regarded brand.", testifies the charismatic chef of Alstare, convinced that the two entities are perfectly complementary.

"We both enjoyed success in competition"(World Superbike and Supersport titles for Alstare, GP 350 title for Bimota, NDLR), emphasizes Francis Batta,"and pooling our expertise is like a divine marriage". Just that !

More specifically, Batta congratulates the work of the engineer Acquaviva: "the BB3 is a fantastic motorcycle with enormous potential. We are delighted at Alstare to participate in its development, to launch it on the track and free the beast"…

At the heart of the cycle part "made in Rimini" is indeed housed the boiling 4-cylinder of the BMW S1000RR, which develops in the original version no less than 193 horsepower and should spit a little more on the BB3, registered in the unpublished Evo category of the WSBK (already evokes 198 hp …).

While waiting for a BMW team to register for the 2014 Superbike World Championship – BMW Italia with its double STK champion Sylvain Barrier, for example ?! -, Alstare is the only team to request the services of this Munich bombshell. A machine that the future Bimota pilot, Ayrton Badovini, has already handled brilliantly !

"Although the BB3 is a new bike, I am very familiar with the characteristics of the engine from my 2011 and 2012 seasons.", recalls the 26-year-old Italian rider, titled in 2010 in European Superstock riding an S1000RR, precisely.

"It is a good engine, powerful but very usable whatever the speed.", continues the n ° 86 from Biella."I don’t think we will need to work on it a lot, which will give us time for the restNamely to develop the chassis, original certainly, but a little less than that of its old frame, the 1199 Panigale !

"Ayrton was unlucky last year with all of his injuries and, to tell the truth, he was never 100%", notes his boss Francis Batta."Despite the difficulties we encountered, he clinched a podium in demanding conditions as well as a Superpole in Germany, the first of his career.".

This year, Ayrton no longer wants to rely on the rain to shine. He is also very clearly aiming for the "Evo title" and even intends to set out to conquer that of World Superbike "quite simply" the following season, always in the company of his "family"Alstare !

This family will welcome a new member in 2014: Christian Iddon! The English rider made his debut in world motorcycle speed last year at the age of 27, in the Supersport category, with another very prestigious Italian brand: MV Agusta.

Fifteenth in the SSP World Championship, n ° 21 was spotted – by Batta himself! – by winning in the penultimate race at Magny-Cours a third place as incredible as it deserved (behind the two champions Sofuoglu and Lowes, read our).

All excited to join "the famous Alstare team", Chris points out that"this year a lot of teams will be new and probably won’t have done a lot of testing so we’ll be in the same boat".

Mister Iddon also recalls that the Superbike category is not entirely unknown to him: "I played four rounds of the British championshipIt was on a CBR1000RR, and this fall the talented and generous – and therefore sought after – rider tested an Evo-class Kawasaki..

"But I know the new Bimota BB3 will be very different from what I’m used to", admits the native of Stockport (near Manchester) who piloted last year the" small "F3 in the colors of Parkingo – sponsor who should join the self-proclaimed" Dream Team "of Francis Batta.

"I don’t like to talk about goals, but I always set big goals for myself and it will be the same this year", guarantees the son of Paul Iddon, a Bimota rider – on a YB3 – at the very start of the World Superbike.

"I hope we will fight against the best drivers in the Evo class well before the end of the season", table all the same Christian,"and I would be disappointed if I didn’t. I know I have a great team behind me, I can’t wait to work with them and maybe surprise a few people". To be continued, on Site of course: stay connected !

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