Quintanilla and Husqvarna claim runner-up finish at Dakar 2020
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing's Pablo Quintanilla has claimed second overall at the 42nd edition of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. Earning his best result at the event by putting in an excellent performance over the entire 12 stages on his Husqvarna FR 450 Rally machine, Pablo bettered his third-place 2016 performance to award Husqvarna their highest ever event result to date. Teammate Andrew Short fought back from a tough first week to place 10th on the final stage, earning himself 10th overall in the race standings.
Winner of the penultimate stage, Pablo Quintanilla went into the 12th and final day of racing in Saudi Arabia with a 13-minute deficit on the race leader. Despite having the unenviable task of leading riders out into the final 374-kilometre special, he put in a superb ride from the front, opening the entire stage to ultimately finish fifth, just over three minutes down on the eventual stage winner. In claiming second, Quintanilla secured his best ever result at the Dakar, which, following the injury sustained at last year's event, is a massive achievement.
Andrew Short endured a tricky start to his 2020 Dakar Rally campaign – a crash on stage two that resulted in damaged navigational equipment meant time lost for the American and a 30-minute penalty after being forced to fix it at the start of the following day's stage. Nevertheless, the former Supercross star regrouped and gave his best right to the end of the event. Claiming 10th on the final stage to safely bring his Husqvarna FR 450 Rally home in a commendable 10th overall, Andrew enjoyed the race and was pleased with his overall performance.
Pablo Quintanilla said: "I feel amazing. To spend most of 2019 in recovery and now to be here with my best ever result makes me extremely grateful. I never thought that I would be in this position at the beginning of the race. I would like to thank the team for their hard work over these two weeks – they have done an amazing job. Overall, my race has gone really well, it's been a tough event for everybody, and the main goal was always to reach the finish. A podium at the Dakar is like a dream come true, especially after such a hard one this year. I still want that win, so I'll work hard and be back next year."
Pela Renet, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Rally Team Manager, said: "I'm really happy with second place at the Dakar – the whole two weeks have been great because of the riders and the whole team. Pablo did a fantastic job, he kept pushing and gave everything he could. Andrew finished in the top 10 after many problems, but he was able to put those early issues behind him and stay strong to the finish. It has been a tough two weeks for all of the paddock, but I'm really pleased with how the team has stuck together and how hard they have worked. All the mechanics and personnel have been amazing, and we wouldn't have been able to achieve what we did without them."
Clutch spring conversion kits for Yamaha models
Californian specialist Barnett's coil spring conversion kits include a CNC precision machined billet aluminium pressure plate and six heavy duty coil springs to replace the stock diaphragm spring and pressure plate on select Yamaha models.
These spring conversion kits provide a more progressive, controllable clutch engagement compared to the OE diaphragm spring. Multiple spring pressure options make them ideal for stock to high performance applications. Installation is ‘bolt-on’ with no modifications required - it simply replaces the stock pressure plate/spring assembly. Barnett says that for maximum performance dealers could also install a set of its clutch plates with the spring conversion kit.
Barnett spring conversion kits are available for the Yamaha V-Max (thru ’07), Royal Star, Road Star, XVS1100 V-Star, 1986-98 XV1100 Virago, FJ1100/1200, XJR1200/1300, FJR1300, XTZ12 Super Tenere, XV19 Raider/Roadliner/Stratoliner (thru 2012), YZFR1 (thru ’03), MT-01 and YXZ1000R SXS.
BARNETT CLUTCHES & CABLES
www.barnettcables.com
Ravenna Motorcycle Fashion
Exclusively distributed worldwide by well-known Italian specialist Wind Trading, the fast growing Ravenna Motorcycle Fashion riding apparel brand was launched a year ago at EICMA and this year a new 2020 collection included top sellers alongside many new designs and additions.
Highlights include one and two-piece leather racing suits, leather sport-touring jackets, all-seasons textile jackets and pants, a range of entry level textile jackets and gloves, which can be complemented by the broad selection of W2 riding boot styles and solutions also offered by Wind Trading.
Entirely devised and designed in Italy, Ravenna Motorcycle Fashion is backed by 35 years of industry knowledge and experience that Wind Trading puts behind everything it sells - and they know what does sell and at what price-point.
The Ravenna collection is a "quality programme at a fair price" and offers full margins for dealers and importers/distributors.
Aimed at touring and adventure riders, with additional designs for scooterists and track racers, Wind Trading says "for all sectors the emphasis is on quality, design, safety, performance and value".
WIND TRADING SRL
www.ravenna-moto.com
T.ur - "The spirit of adventure touring returns one year later"
T.ur, the new Adventure Touring brand by Tucano Urbano, returned to EICMA a year after its launch with a full programme of 2020 designs - from jackets to gloves, the a new ladies range and travel accessories. One of the highlights was the J-ZERO jacket and P-ZERO trouser winter riding suit - "designed to withstand even the most hostile conditions.
"The suit is a masterpiece of attention to detail, combining thermal comfort, wearability, CE-certified safety and a design that’s unique to the world of motorcycling. The outer layer is made from CORDURA, with inserts in super-strong SUPERFABRIC material. The materials are lined with an impermeable, breathable laminated membrane".
Details include a removable collar and HYDROSCUD structure, "which ensures that the garment is completely impermeable and at the same time guarantees the necessary level of aeration for versatile use in between seasons. The removable under-layer – which can be worn separately – features THERMORE, Thermal Booster (170 g) padding, which increases body temperature when the temperature drops". A 'Safety&Support' system allows the rider to position an elastic lumbar belt inside the jacket to improve the position of the back protector and share the weight of the jacket itself more evenly around the body.
"Safety is guaranteed by the CE17092-certified design, while D3O LP2 PRO Level 2 ventilated armour means that the garments have been able to obtain Class AA ranking.
Completing the winter equipment range are CE-certified G-ZERO gloves, featuring a double-glove structure. The outer gloves have four fingers, with the fourth and fifth fingers joined together to ensure optimum thermal insulation and protection, while HDry technology uses a patented procedure to glue the impermeable membrane to the external material to stop water getting through, even when faced with the most extreme rainfall. The internal gloves have five fingers to ensure maximum dexterity and are made with THERMORE – Thermal Booster (130 g) padding.
The feature-rich women’s J-ONE LADY, P-ONE LADY and G-ONE LADY complement the men’s versions and include THERMORE and HDry in the G-Four gloves. There will also be two new models of bags - the waterproof B-THREE barrel bag and the B-FOUR backpack.
TUCANO URBANO
www.tucanourbano.com
www.t-ur.com
Kawasaki to manufacture Bimota in Italy
Those visiting the Kawasaki stand at EICMA may have noticed something a bit different from 'Big Green' - Bimota design concepts!
Kawasaki Motors Europe NV (a wholly owned subsidiary of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.) set up a new subsidiary (April 2019, Italian Motorcycle Investment S.P.A./IMI) to manufacture and sell motorcycles under the Bimota brand in Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Ever since it released its first model in 1972, Bimota has been admired and 'storied' in equal measure. Its unique, premium and carefully crafted performance motorcycles have earned it fans from all over the world. However, as a brand, it has had its share of corporate "near death experiences".
With Pierluigi Marconi guiding events, IMI will revive the Bimota brand and expand its operations, developing, producing and selling Bimota motorcycles. Kawasaki will supply engines and other key components in support of a Bimota revival.
The two design concepts on show at EICMA were Marconi/Kawasaki collaborations, which will combine TESI technology from Bimota and innovative technology from Kawasaki's ultra-high- performance Ninja H2 motorcycle. IMI plans to offer 200 Bimota brand motorcycles for sale in 2020.
Husqvarna Motorcycles has announced a return to international road racing and the FIM World Championship Grand Prix Moto3 class where they will officially support the Max Racing Team. Owned by four-times 250 cc World Champion Max Biaggi, and under the management of experienced German former racer Peter Öttl, the team will field Romano Fenati and Alonso Lopez in the 2020 season on the new Husqvarna FR 250 GP.
British distributor Bickers has added distribution of NOCO battery chargers and jump packs. The NOCO boost range features five lithium-based jump packs; there are also five battery trickle chargers available, plus an accessory range that includes extension cables, adaptors, connectors and protective cases. Historically, NOCO's origins are with the two-step NCP2 "No Corrosion Product" - a battery corrosion preventative invented by Joseph Henry Nook in 1914.
Michelin has signed an agreement to acquire 80% of PT Multistrada Arah Sarana TBK ("Multistrada"), a tyre manufacturer based in Indonesia. Michelin will pay USD 439 m for their controlling stake. With a production capacity of more than 180 thousand tons (i.e., 11 million passenger car tyres, 9 million two-wheel tyres and 250 thousand truck tyres), Multistrada generated net sales of USD 281 million in 2017. With this transaction, Michelin will strengthen its presence in the highly promising but local-production dominated Indonesian market by acquiring a very competitive local plant with good quality facilities and immediately available production capacity.
Husqvarna has announced that its official MX2 team - the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing MX2 team - is to be managed from 2020 onwards by the Belgian Nestaan-MX team. Owned by Kay Hennekens, Nestaan-MX has been involved in Motocross World Championship competition for many years and will operate from a new workshop in Lommel, Belgium. The team will field three riders in 2020, racing on FC 250 machinery.
DMC Group in the UK has won Ducati's 'Dealer of the Year' award for Europe and Africa - becoming the first British dealer to pick up the accolade. In front of an audience that included 487 dealers and importers from 71 countries, the award was accepted by Chris Booth, Managing Director of DMC - the group has franchises in Manchester, Stoke, Preston and Worcester.
The KSR Group (Christian and Michael Kirschenhofer) has completed the second phase of an expansion plan at its new corporate headquarters at Gedersdorf in Austria, with the addition of around 2,200 sq m, including an in-house design studio for its PTW brands - including Malaguti, Brixton, Lambretta and KSR Moto. KSR opened the first phase of its new HQ in April 2017; their revenues are said to have grown by 50% in two years from 2016 and are expected to have grown by the same again in the 2018/2019 period.
Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, B&B, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MNW
Ferodo Racing online 'E-cat' and range extensions
This has been another excellent year on the track for Ferodo Racing and Champion. As reported last month, using Ferodo brake pads and Champion spark plugs and oil filters, Brad Freeman (Costa Ligure Boano Team) won the Enduro GP and Enduro 1 World Championships (and the Italian Championship), with the team scooping the Enduro GP and Enduro 1 Manufacturer's Team World Championship.
That has been followed up with Alex Lowes and Michael Van der Mark taking third and fourth place respectively in the WorldSBK Championship, with Ferodo Racing as an official technical partner to their PATA Yamaha Factory Racing team.
Add into that success for Matteo Pavoni (Italian youth 125 cc Championship) and Deny Philippaerts (Italian 300 cc Champion) and it was a pretty impressive year for the Ferodo backed racers. Off the track Ferodo continues with its new application blitz (more than 500 in 2019!) as MY2020 production models hit showroom floors and dealers can take advantage of a new online 'E-cat' function - an online E-catalogue tool - and new Ferodo and Champion clutch, brake fluid and filter range extensions.
www.ferodoracing.com
