Bimota hasn’t seen much of WSBK in the last decade, but they could be back on the track soon. Bimota has recently started working on a World Superbike motorcycle which could see the track as early as 2012. Bimota has set up the Bimota Research Development Department, thanks to a joint venture with EDO Racing that will manage the marketing and development area. This is a first step for what concerns the SBK project as well, since the brand is willing to work on a World Superbike machine in the near future and is absolutely open to the possibility that in the not too distant future, the bike could arrive at one round. Obviously the Rimini-based company must first reach the production numbers stipulated in the FIM regulations and request homologation.
Bimota was once a big name in the World Superbike series, collecting wins from riders like Davide Tardozzi, Giancarlo Falappa and Stephane Mertens. Anthony Gobert took Bimota’s last win in WSBK with a wet race win at Phillip Island in 2000. It looks like Bimota is eager to get back to its winning ways. Bimota announced today that they have set up the Bimota Research Development Department which will research, design, and build a World Superbike Motorcycle. Bimota hasn’t set a timeline for when the new bike will be ready, but Ruben Xaus, former World Superbike rider and current team manager of the Bimota team, recently tested a prototype in Almeria.
“I’ve been part of Bimota for a few months and I’m trying to bring my whole experience as a world-known rider,” Xaus said. “I decided to create a development project, a joint venture with Edo Racing that could allow more flexibility and a faster service so the company can fully concentrate on the planning and prototyping. SBK is at its beginnings. In our recent test at Almeria, we just had to check different solutions about the chassis and from the next step forward we’ll get to know better which is our project-competitiveness level.”
