General Category > General Discussion
Guzzi in Superbike Racing???
leafman60:
I thought I'd provide everyone with a good laugh this morning but ... do you think there is any possible chance that Moto Guzzi will ever field a modern machine that could compete in the National or World Superbike Series racing?
I'm serious. Not delusional this early in the morning.
This is the series that mandates motorcycles to be based on standard homologated production machines and be four-stroke, 850-1200CC for twins, 750-1000CC for four-cylinders. Aside from the popularity of such races, they provide a valuable marketing tool for the manufacturers.
Lest anyone think that a twin couldn't compete, Ducati twins hold the world record of 14 wins in this series with Honda a distant second at 6 wins.
I know, I know, we aren't going to see a California 1400 on the Superbike podium or a Stelvio either for that matter. I also know Aprilia wants these spots for their own offerings and Piaggio hasn't positioned the Guzzi brand in a way to appeal to this sort of marketing. It's just a whimsical thought. Could another Italian V Twin with or without shaft drive be competitive? Could it make inroads to a younger demographic coming up?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superbike_racing
tiger_one:
Two things come to mind, weight and electronics. BMW tried/trying.
Daniel Kalal:
Certainly. They could have easily put the Moto Guzzi name on the current WSBK Aprilia. A good argument could be made that should Aprilia get serious in MotoGP, they should do exactly that. But, they won't (Guzzi is now positioned by Piaggio to never be their leading edge performance bike).
Dogwalker:
It's simply a matter of doing some telephone call, and invest a lot of money.
If the Piaggio management calls the engineers of the Centro Sviluppo Motori Piaggio giving them the task to make a 1200cc twin for competitions, they will do it, and, if the same management tell the Aprilia guys to develop a bike capable to win the WSBK with that engine, they will do. They already have the know-how to do those things.
But those are costly items. As I recall, the development of the RSV4 cost 25.000.000 € prior than the first race.
DogW
rocker59:
It's all about money, and personally I'd rather see the money spent on developing the lineup of street motorcycles.
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