The 2019 FIM International Six Days Enduro, the 94th edition of the event, is being staged at Portimao, Portugal, November 11-16. Over 650 riders from more than 30 nations will tackle more than 1,500 km of gruelling terrain and technical tests. Australia won in Chile in 2019. This will be the 13th time the event has been staged in Portugal since its inception in 1913. In 2020 it will move to Italy (Piedmont/Lombardy) for the first time since Sardinia in 2013.
KTM increased its market share to 12.3% in Q1 2019 with a registration increase of +22%, seeing growth in major markets such as Germany (+29%), France (+34%) and Spain (+20%). They were also up +30% in India. Contrary to initial estimates, the retail motorcycle market in Europe grew by around +20% in the first quarter.
Securing his third world crown, Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Colton Haaker (USA) won the 2019 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship at the fifth and final round of the series in Bilbao, Spain, in April, riding an FX 350. KTM's Cody Webb (USA) and Taddy Blazusiak (Poland) were second and third, with Husqvarna's Pol Tarres (Spain) fourth and Alfredo Gomez (Spain) fifth.
Record-breaking racer Zef Eisenberg survived a 195 mph scare to establish a new record for the Flying Mile at Pendine Sands in South Wales. Riding a specially made 400 bhp supercharged Suzuki Hayabusa that was built and prepared by Eisenberg’s MADMAX Racing Team, he set a two-way average of 182.40 mph on Saturday 6 April. The Flying Mile record was set by Sir Malcolm Campbell in 1927 at 174 mph in the famous Blue Bird car. Eisenberg raised that to 182.49 mph in a two-way-average flying-mile measurement that could have been higher if the engine had not blown up at a GPS recorded speed of 195 mph-plus.
Triumph Motorcycles has announced a new collaboration with UK industry experts such as Williams F1 Advanced Engineering and Integral Powertrain Ltd’s e-Drive Division, and Innovate UK, to develop specialist electric motorcycle technology which will provide significant input into potential future electric motorcycle offers from Triumph. This two-year project (TRIUMPH TE-1) also includes partnership work with Warwick University's world famous WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group).
BMW Motorrad says it has seen sales continue to grow strongly, with year-to-date deliveries to the end of April 2019 up by +7.7% to 57,014 units. In April a total of 18,408 (+7.7%) BMW Motorrad motorcycles and maxi scooters were delivered to customers around the world.
Having already worked very successfully with the Kawasaki Racing Team and its riders, SHOWA has increased its commitment to the successful KRT World Superbike championship-winning team for 2019 by becoming a major sponsor as well as Technical Partner.
Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, B&B, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MNW
