Our colleagues at Motoblog.it are at Aprilia’s 2012 Superbike team presentation at Piaggio’s Spazio Broletto in Milan to present this season’s rider line-up Max Biaggi and Eugene Laverty.

Since the team will no longer be running under the Alitalia title sponsorship banner, they’ve reverted back to the original Aprilia corporate colours livery they used in 2009 when they returned to the World Superbike championship.

Technical and Sporting Director will again be Gigi Dall’Igna, and the new Team Manager will be Dario Raimondi. The late Marco Simoncelli’s crewchief Aligi Deganello will be following Max Biaggi’s side of the garage (since Giovanni Sandi left with almost all of Biaggi’s crew), while Marcus Eschembacher while be following Eugene Laverty.

After the jump, more pics and two videos from the team presentation including the RSV4 technical specifications:

Continue reading: Aprilia Factory Superbike Team presentation at Milan

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Sooner or later, it was bound to happen anyway. For once, Pepo Rosell and Reyes Ramon of renowned aftermarket company Radical Ducati put their love for the Italian desmo machines aside and turned their attention to a Japanese motorcycle from the 80s, and the result is the awesome bike you can admire in these pictures. The model is called Dirt-Rad and is based on a pretty famous motorcycle, a 1989 Yamaha XT 600.

The original frame was cut, modified and connected to the fork of a FZR600, the engine was re-built with new ported heads and the exhaust system is made of Wolfman ‘2-in-1′ connecting pipes and terminates with a captivating Spark GP megaphone. The Dirt-RAD comes with 18″ wheels with aluminum Akront rims and stainless steal spoke fitted with Pirelli Skorpion tyres, whereas the braking system was lifted from a Ducati S4RS. The fuel tank comes from 1970’s Ducati 250, while the saddle is borrowed from a Pursang Bultaco.

This Dirt-RAD by Radical Ducati uses in-house hand-built mudguards, the front one made in aluminum and the rear one in carbon fibre. Other remarkable features of the model include Hagoon rear shock, Rizoma handlebar, Puch head light and an aluminum road racing chain guard taken from a Ducati 916. The Madrid-based company will soon show off its Dirt-RAD at the second edition of the “Metamorfosis Masiva“, a style contest open to single cylinder bikes only.

View the full Dirt-RAD by Radical Ducati photo gallery

via | Radical Ducati

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During the three day test at Sepang, Repsol Honda and Yamaha engaged in some friendly bantering on Twitter, but apparently the Japanese team has decided take on that certain ‘belittling’ Valentino Rossi to set off some extra sparks between the fan factions (as if they needed something else to set them off) by posting this TwitPic of the two World Champion riders MotoGP stats from 2006 to 2011.

And the gloves are off … as the stats say it all.

Updated:

Valentino Rossi who is sitting at home recovering from his yesterday’s surgery was informed of the stats and hit back via his Twitter @ValeYellow46: with “eh eh,very easy compare the numbers between me and Stoner from 2006,when I won already 5 champs and 53 races mgp” and “more real compare the first 5 season of me with the first 5 of Stoner”

In just over an hour since Repsol Honda posted the stats they have now removed them after some backlash saying “exactly, it’s only pointing out the stats from the last 5 years, not belittling what VR46 has achieved before!” - “Ok ok… will remove… wasn’t belittling @ValeYellow46 achievements … just comparing” - “hope you’re right… it was only a comparison… not malicious!”

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We’re usually used to seeing urban trial rider Julien Dupont do pretty awesome things in major cities for his Ride the World series, but seeing him with freestyle trial buddy Arthur Coutard riding around the rocky slopes of the French Alps is totally different backdrop.

Enjoy the video, and wish you were there with them.

Source | motoblog.it

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Thanks to Spanish website MotorPassionMoto.com we can show you what is believed to be Piaggio’s updated version of their three wheeled scooter the MP3 or the Fuoco (fire) which was caught testing on the roads near Girona in Spain.

Apparently the new model -which at the moment looks pretty fugly - is well ahead in the testing phase and could be ready to be released in time for this year’s EICMA show.

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Both Ducati riders underwent surgery today, Nicky Hayden on his injured left shoulder and Valentino Rossi to remove a pin from his right leg, the same leg he fractured during practice at Mugello in 2010.

Rossi’s surgery which was already programmed took place at the Cervesi Hospital in Cattolica and he was operated on by Dr. Giannicola Lucidi, and Dr. Marco Trono surgeons from the Rimini Hospital and also present was Dr. Giuseppe Porcellini, who performed Rossi’s shoulder surgery last season.

“The surgery went well, and he’s all right, I saw him this morning - surgery started at 10am and and was completed by 11am and Valentino woke up well. Valentino chose Cattolica because he feels comfortable here and it’s near his home,” said Dr. Lucidi.

Rossi will leave the hospital later this evening and will have to observe a rest period of four to five days before beginning rehabilitation, and should not have any problems taking part in the upcoming Sepang II tests at the end of this month.

Source | ilrestodelcarlino.it

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During the usual Dealer Meeting that took place in Montecarlo a few days ago - also attended by Aprilia’s WSB rider Max Biaggi - the Piaggio Group introduced two brand new models of its subsidiaries Aprilia and Moto Guzzi. It was not an official presentation as the press was not allowed in and both models are expected to hit the showrooms in the not-so-near future - which also explains the lack of info and specs - but nonetheless it was the first time that both these models were spotted around in their definitive form: meet the Aprilia Caponord 1200 and the Moto Guzzi California 1400.

The Caponord 1200 is not too different from the one we had spotted about a year ago. The chassis looks is similar to the one of the Dorsoduro model, if not exactly the same. Same goes for the engine - which should be a 130 hp twin - while the suspension is probably tweaked to make it more suitable for off-road use. 19″ rims and a front end that adopts the design language introduced by the RSV4 and then adopted by the whole Aprilia’s range complete the profile of the bike, for now. As for now there’s no word as for when the Caponord will eventually hit the market, but will be waiting for more info about this model.

As for the Moto Guzzi California 1400, the images of this model were collected by renowned Italian magazine Motociclismo, which got them from a dealer that was at the event. The model is equipped by a 1,400 cc engine that should deliver more power and torque of the current version. We also notice an oil-radiator, which would make us belief that the cooling system will be an oil-mixed-air one. The new Guzzi should be officially unveiled next fall, and more accurate info about it are expected to surface way before that: we will keep you posted.

pics | VisorDown

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Considering that half of Europe is under snow and sub-zero temperatures, chosing the ski resort town of Sestriere, Italy (where the 2006 Olympics where held) seemed the proper choice for the Effenbert Liberty to do their official team presentation.

The two day event took place on last Saturday and Sunday, and they presented their 2012 rider line-up, with Sylvian Guintoli, Jakub Smrz and Maxime Berger for World Superbikes and Federico Sandi and Brett McCormick for FIM Superstock 1000 Cup championship, with Sylvain Guintoli’s #50 Ducati as the star of the programme.

The team also hosted a gala dinner at the Hotel Belvedere restaurant, followed up by a night of fun and dancing at the Tabata disco, with the usual hot looking ladies draped all over the Ducati 1098R.

Continue reading: Effenbert Liberty Superbike and Superstock Team presentation at Sestriere

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It looks like Anthony West has changed his mind regarding retiring from motorcycle racing. The Australian was dropped by Speed Master’s CRT team after he couldn’t come up the sponsorship money to fund his MotoGP ride late last month - they’ve already replaced him with Mattia Pasini - and bitterly added that he would be likely ” not race any more and will return to australia to find a normal job. Sorry to my fans.”

This sad comment has probably touched a couple team owner’s hearts because West is now claiming that he has received offers to continue riding and is currently thinking them over:

“To keep people up to date, I have had some offers to ride BSB, AMA, IDM and endurance racing. Of course I want to be in GP but all rides are taken and same in WSBK. I’m just looking for the best way to go, and a team that can win. And I will start now to try to raise the money to come back into GP or WSBK for 2013.”

If you were in West’s shoes would you choose the highly popular BSB that helped rejuvenate John Hopkins or the AMA and try to be become the next Mat Mladin?

Source | bikesportnews.com

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Francis Batta’s dreams of fielding MV Agusta F3 in World Supersport have been definitely put aside for the 2012 season along with their idea of a couple of wildcard partecipations, which was confirmed by Batta’s wife, Patricia Dethor via their Facebook page, but the historical team insists they are working hard on a return in 2013.

Apparently MV Agusta wants to dedicate all their economic resources on production (we saw the video of their new assembly line earlier this morning) and on development of new bikes and than helping sponsor a racing team at an international level.

Source | motoblog.it

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