Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Update: Nicky Hayden N to get winning.The big thing is not laying down, and to kee p pushing:' Hay den had bee n using th e revised Honda chassis, wit h a shi fte d ry Rep so l Honda tea m, claimed a second tho ugh I no ticed some guys were picking up the pace, it didn't really registe r. "Then on the first day at Sout h Africa [the first rou nd], I noticed q uite a few guys had picked it up. It's down to Valentino [Rossi] really: ' Hayden finished fifth there, and fou nd himse lf str uggling somew hat. "It's hard to find a co uple of te nths w hen you're already on the edge," he said. "It's not like you can just think about it and find haifa-second overnight. I got caugh t out, but now I feel like I'm getting closer. successive rostrum finish the year at "In racing. when the momentum is there. Germany the weekend before , and was making the most of that too. it's good . But I had a few things earlier in the year [like a bike failure at Catalunya] that made it look worse than it was ." "It may turn a little bett e r, but I have one of each, and it's hard to tell any rea l differ- icky Hayden was en joying the moment, after putting his nam e at the top of the pract ice list for the first time ever. after the first practice session at Do nington Park on Friday, july 22. "It's only Friday and it's on ly provisio nal po le, but I've bee n picking up my pace , and Lo rd knows this year the re 've been a wh o le lot of days that haven't been suc h fun for me . I'm gonna try to enjoy it:' he said, in an interview on Friday evening . Hayden. in his second year in the facto- "There's times in racing when you get the momentum and confidence, and everything is clicking into place. That's how it seems to me at the moment," he said. But it had take n half the season for the former AHA Superbike Champion to start showing the form with which he made such an impressive debut season. "More than anything, I just kinda got caught out:' he admitted. "I went okay in the earlier tests, then when it got serious in Spain there was a lot of bad weather, and Where had the improvement come from? "I don't know:' Hayden said. '" wish I did. I think it's to do with getting momentum. It's not just one thing - more generally, like getting more out of the bike and more out of myself. I'm a racer, and it sucks getting beat every weekend. Last week on Friday I was second, and Saturday ninth. You can get frustrated real easy. You have to convince yourself it's a nuke when you don't go well. When I moved up a class inracing before it never took me this long MV Proton Deal Completed MVAgusta's future has now been settled , with the prestigious Italian manufacturer which has been under admininstration for the past two years, ever since a failed merger with the Piaggio Group is now set to be taken over by Malaysian car giant Proton. The deal announced on july 7 marks the successful out come of year-long negotiations between MV boss Claudio Castiglioni and the Proton board, which approved the pur chase on May 2S, subject to the consent of the court-appointed administrators presently charged with supervising MV's operation. Since january 10, 2003 , the insolvent MV Agusta Group has been in the hands of the bankruptcy court in its swingarm pivot, since the last race, but said there was no great difference between old and new. ence," he said. The new engine and exhaust pipe combination used by senior teammate Alex Barros in Germany was another matter. "He says it is not a lot different , but I notice that he hasn't spent much time on the old bike since it arrived , and that tells me something:' the 22-year-old Kentucky charmer said. ')\ Iso in Germany when I was following him, he was slidingquite a lot, but still driving forward. I'm hoping I can test the new motor here after the race, and then after the Suzuka Eight-Hour, when Honda is usually able to produce more but has so far resisted combining it under one roof with Proton dealers , maintaining a quite separate worldwide Lotus the marque, the interests of its workforce , and Castigtioni's declared that it will evaluate how the link with MV Agusta projected business plan for regaining profitability all justified the company being handed a liferaft in order to try to trade could accelerate its own intent to manufacture motorcycles. restructure the company 's accumulated debt, estimated at around Euro 200 million, before Proton acquires an agreed SS percent of the MV Agusta Group's equity, in return for a cash injection of Euro 70 million from the Malaysian car maker. This will recapitalize MY, whose 6oo -strong workforce is on target to manufacture 2B,ooo motorcycles this year under its MV Agusta, Husqvarna and Cagiva badges , exactly double the number produced in 2003 , when the company's Varese factory resumed operations after a ten-month shutdown in the wake of the collapse of the Piaggio deal . The deal with Proton sees 58-year old Claudio Castiglioni remaining as President and CEO of MV Agusta , ensuring that he'll continue in overall supervision of the company's operations. Together with his son Giovanni who, since graduating 12 AUGUST 4, 2004 • CY CL E NEWS everyone expects him to stay where he is. He agrees. "I worked real hard to be in this team, and I don 't want it to slip away:' he said. "I want to get good results over the rest of the year - that 's what will count: ' quite apart from the fact that we cannot manufacture any more bikes than we are currently doing with our present in underwriting MV's future development, by provid ing the funds to finance the development of new models and expand its commercial operation, is thought unlikely to extend to distributing MV Agusta motorcycles through Proton car dealers. Previously, in O ctober 1996, Proton acquired Britain's equally prestigious Lotus four-wheeled marque - like MY, an illustrious multi -GP and World Championship title -winner which had fallen on hard times - strengthen its corporate and commercial image, as well as to broaden its range of products . Proton managemen t has also This bet now appears to have paid off, subject only to an agreement with Banca Intesa and MV's other creditors to "I'll probably spend mos t of it at home, practicing at the Kentucky raceway or my back yard. My brothers will be there, and they'll be wa iting for me, wan ting to see what I've brought back!" Hayden's Honda contract is up at the end of this year, and though there had been "some talk" about contracts everything was still in the air. Hayden ishot property in the paddock, but turning MV Agusta around . Proton's vital importance it was determined that : the backlog of orders for MV's products , the quality of those products, the historic significance of restart of MV production, and thus ensured the firm 's continued existence . even stronger. demand," Cast iglioni said in April as production started of the F4 1000S. "I know the market is hungry for more MVs, but home city of Varese under amministrazione conuotJata. After termed 'a hopeful bet' by one Italian financial newspaper came from the Banca Intesa merchant bank holding the major ity of MV's accumulated debt, which underwrote the In the meantime, there was the matter of a summer break to get th rough. Hayde n planned to use it to help him come back from business school in London in 2002 , has been working closely with his father in dealer network. As in ail good partnerships, however, there are benefits for both sides in th is union . Proton, which was formed only as recently as 19B3, has been seeking to expand upmarket to its way out of insolvency, a Euro 25 million cash injection • parts, the n I'llget it too:' perhaps under its own name. For MV Agusta, the takeover gives Claudio Castiglioni the opportunity to focus more close lyon his creative expertise in developing new products in conjunction with Tamburini and Galluzzi, funded by Proton's injection of capital and doubtless using of the Malaysian auto maker's hi-tech rapid prototyping system, while handing over financial as well as probable day-to -day operational control of the co mpany to Proton. The Malaysian company's expertise in volume production will surely be applied to streamlining efficiency and improving productivity at MV's modern, wellequipped Cassinetta plant . MV Agusta will also possess the capital to step up productions still further, to meet the spiralling demand for its much -admired new F4 1000S sportbike, the 750 Brutale naked streetrod, and its acclaimed Husqvarna off-road range, as well as relaunching the Cagiva marque - almost certainly with its own range of V-twin engines to replace the Suzuki TL650/TL I000 motors currently employed in the Raptor and Navigator models . However, don't necessarily expect that MV Agusta production will necessarily be stepped up any in the wake of the Proton takeover - not right away, in any case. "We'll produce a maximum of 7000 MVAgustas in anyone year, split between F4 and Brutale models, depending on 40th Anniversary facilities, perhaps we also don 't want to - or should I say, ought not to . I observe with amusement at the way in which our rival Italian marques position themselves , each claiming to be the Ferrari of two wheel s - but even Ferrari has under stood that it must never increase production beyond a certain point, must never entirely satisfy the demand for its products . Manufacturing only a limited number of bikes each year, as we are now doing, is what stimulates the high level of inherent quality, and the sophisticated technology of our products. Variable induction , radial valves, let alone Tamburini's unique styling and leading edge chassis design - all these are what differentiate our products from those Made in japan, and limiting production to levels where we can deliver the finest qual- ity as well as this high level of technology to our customers, is what makes our motorcycles so desirable. Granted, their cost is much higher than the Japanese bikes, but that's a mark of their desirability, precisely because we do not cheapen their image by means of the economy of scale which allows the Japanese and others to sell at a lower price. to It'll be interesting to see if Proton's entry into the compa ny will alter that position... Alan Cat hcart

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