Vertex Pistons celebrates 70 years in business
Performance specialist Vertex Pistons has celebrated 70 years of developing and manufacturing high-performance two- and four-stroke pistons for off-road, street, scooter, ATV, UTV, snowmobile, go-kart, ultralight and other motorsport applications.
The Italian/American company, internationally respected for its products for professional and amateur riders, celebrated the milestone in the presence of the EU President of Arrowhead Group Kai Zissler, the General Manager Vertex Pistons, Valerio Scutellà, the company management, and the personnel and partners who have contributed to making the Vertex Pistons brand the market leader it is today.
The company was founded in 1953 as an artisan workshop (with eight employees) to produce spare parts for engines and pumps for agriculture. In about ten years, it had created two new lines to produce pistons and the first technical office dedicated to piston design and construction R&D.
This quickly led to development and expertise in products for international markets and a doubling of facility size and production capacity with major production equipment and tooling investments, including into CNC machining tools.
In the following years, Vertex became an important supplier of cast and forged pistons for most leading European motorcycle, scooter and go-kart manufacturers, rapidly increasing its market share and giving Vertex a solid foundation and reputation for expansion into the aftermarket.
Its high-performance product design has always remained innovative - investing in advanced materials, heat treatments and specific profiles.
Confirming the high standards achieved, 1997 saw Vertex receive ISO 9001 certification from the DNV, the international certification authority.
In 1994, American rider Bob Moore, on the factory Yamaha motorcycle equipped with Vertex pistons, won the 125 class Motocross World Championship. This world title was to prove to be the first in a long, unprecedented and unparalleled sequence of international race and championship series successes achieved at international level year after year ever since.
In the 2022 season alone, Vertex Pistons equipped riders won no less than a staggering nine world titles in motocross, enduro and Supermoto - including Tim Gajser's MXGP World Championship, riding the factory Honda HRC.
www.vertexpistons.com
