Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128100
8L5 ....... "~--- ......... . . . . .. . . . '''-L" '~ Mandai P,ega ~ .- - -'C" -- - ~--' ", - '''-- - - ...... - '" ~ ~ ~ --- - - By ALAN CATHCART PHOTOS BY GOLD & GOOSE AND KEL EDGE IV]iva il Motociclismo Italiano! With MV Agusta working non-stop to produce enough examples of its acclaimed F4 to satisfy pent-up demand, the rebirth of Benelli, trumpeted by the unique engine note of its high-tech big-bang Tornado triple, and Moto Guzzi, joined by Laverda as the traditional jewels in the crown of the upstart Aprilia empire - which, in turn, is sweeping all before it in the World Superbike Championship (though its Ducati compatriots are putting up a tough struggle) - Italy's historic trophy marques are riding the rip curl of the two-wheeled comeback wave to maximum effect. Now, it's the turn of another World-title-winning name from all our Latin yesterdays to step into the spotlight, en route to a planned revival: Mondlal. Who? One of the dozens of small motorcycle manufacturers which flourished in post-WW2 Italy, Bologna-based Mondial set itself apart from its rivals by winning ten World Championships in the 125cc and 250cc Grand Prix classes between 1949 and 1957 - five rider's crowns, and five manufacturer's titles, in just eight years, during which the forward-looking company was the first to develop a disc brake, as well as the prototype of today's streamlined bike fairings. Designed by Alfonso Drusiani, the little DOHC Mondial singles turned convention on its head by defeating the lightweight two-strokes which l!! already then dominated the smaller road racing classes, featuring the same bevel-gear drive system to 'the overhead camshafts that would later form the basis of the better-known Ducati OHC single's format: it was surely no coincidence that legendary Ducati designer Fabio Taglioni - Dr. T himself - worked for two years at Mondial under Drusiani, before moving across Bologna to the rival Ducati factory in 1954, Indeed, inspired by that year'9 Formula One world-title-winning desmo Mercedes-Benz engines, it was actu- (Above) The author was chosen to ride the Mondlal Plega in Its public debut· in five demonstration laps In Valencia, Spain the site of the opening round of the World Superblke Championship. (Left) Mondlal plans to compete In the World Superblke Championship this season. 20 APRIL 18. 2001 • cue • e n e _ s ally Mondial that was the first to design its own prototype desmodromic motorcycle engine - before any Ducati ever featured positive valve operation. So advanced was the design of its little GP racers that Mondial went three full seasons without being beaten in the 125cc class and, though their MV Agusta and NSU rivals enjoyed a short spell of supremacy, in 1957 the company scooped both 125 and 250cc world crowns in the same year, thanks to flamboyant Italian Tarquinio Provini (125) and British ace Cecil Sandford (250). But at the end of that season, Count Giuseppe Boselli - who founded the Mondial company back in 1929 in collaboration with his three brothers, hence the marque's correct title of 'F.B. Mondial', standing for 'Fratelli Boselli' , pulled Mondial out of GP racing in conjunction with Moto Guzzi and Gilera, in a secret deal which saw the three companies, which between them had won all four GP solo titles that year, withdraw from racing in the face of falling streetbike sales. Though it continued to remain a bit player in the Italian bike market Mondial was only ever a hobby for the aristocratic Boselli family, whose main income came from huge estates in the countryside south of Milan ' the