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/128393
Brief'Y··· A Russian Benelli? Continued from page 9 According to sources close to the company. Woman motocrossers Tarah Gieger and Sarah Whitmore have signed with Steve Aldaco to take care of their business deal- Benelli is likely to have a new owner by the end of September, after being acquired by one of the cwo potential purchasers that have each signed a letter of intent (as yet unaccompanied by any down payment, however). and it is currently undertaking due diligence prior to making an offer for the company which is currently dormant, with its SO workers laid off while a deal is sought for the future of the company. ings relating to their careers in motocross, according to a release from Aldaco. "This year has been a lot of fun working with the Sarah and Tarah. and I am looking forward to continue working closely with them in the future," Aldaco said. "I believe the women's motocross scene is beginning to blow up, and both of them are a huge part ofthat. They are both very easy to work with, as are their fathers. Stay tuned, as One of these is a trio of investors based in Benelli's hometown of Pesaro, Italy, the other the 2S-year-old Russian entrepreneur Nikolai Smolensky, known as the "Baby Oligarch" for his youthful membership of the post-Glasnost group of millionaires who have profited from the breakup of Russia's former Communist state-controlled economy. With a reputed personal net worth in excess of $1 00 million, Smolensky last year bought what was then there is a lot occurring for next season and even in their off-season." Both will be at the final round of the AMA Motocross Championship, held at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California, on September II. They will be in the pits at the Richardson's RV rig, signing autographs and meeting sponsors and fans. Team Velocity Racing moved into the WERA National Endurance Series points lead with their third overall win of the season during the four-hour race at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway on Saturday, August 20. Chuck Ivey, Reuben Frankenfield and Mark Crozier also took the Heavyweight Superstock class victory on the Team Velocity Racing Yamaha YZF-RI. It is the team's seventh class win in eight rounds. The win extends Team Velocity Racing's lead in the Heavyweight Superstock championship, and it puts them into the overall championship lead for the first time in the team's career. It has a 38.815-point advantage with three rounds left in the season. "It's really gratifying to take the overall points lead, and to know that we have a team that can pull together and not make mistakes," Ivey said. "In any sport, whoever makes the least mistakes ends up on top. ideally. Our goal at the start of the season was to not make mistakes, and I'm really proud at how everybody's come together." Britain's second-largest home-owned auto- motive manufacturer (after the now defunct Rover/MG), Blackpool-based TYR, a specialist sports car manufacturer building over 2000 outrageously styled, high-performance models each year, which are exported around the world - including to Russia. But as well as being the owner of a car company, Smolensky is a motorcycle enthusiast (he's reportedly the owner of a Ducati 999) whose banker father Alexander is an investor in Dnepr. the Russian bike marque making copies of WW2 BMW Boxer cwin sidecars under the Ural name. Son Nikolai is understood to have considered making a bid to take over British bike marque CCM when this ran into difficulties last year but decided against this in favor of concentrating on his TYR acquisition. Reports subsequently indicated that he'd decided to create a separate TYR motorcycle division, producing bikes very much in the image of the car company, with a multicylinder sportbike and naked street rod first up. As when Wheeler first took over the company, when early TYRs were powered by V-eight Rover motors, it was expected that TYR would use bought-in engines from Suzuki to power the first generation of bikes to be built in Blackpool. But with TYR's capability to develop its own power units in-house already proven, such would conceivably have come on line later to create a 100-percent madein-England cwo-wheeled performance product. Now, however, it appears that these plans have been set aside in favor of acquiring Benelli. One of Italy's most historic trophy marques - often termed the Maserati of cwo wheels, which for 20 years was once part of the Moto Guzzi empire owned by Argentinian entrepreneur Alessandro de Tomaso - Benelli was acquired in 1995 by Andrea Merloni. Upon acquiring Benelli, Merloni fast-forwarded production of a range of scooters powered by bought-in engines in order to fund development of an all-new 900cc motor (then the three-cylinder capacity limit for Superbike racing), built for him by Motori Franco Morini in Bologna (now co-owners of the revived Moto Morini mar- que). The 900 Tornado duly entered manufacture in 2000, with ongoing R&D provided by a singleton factory bike racing for cwo seasons in the World Superbike Championship. in the hands of Aussie Peter Goddard. However, the industrywide scooter crisis at the start of the millennium Wiped out Benelli's cash now, leaving the company dependent on sales of its Tornado sportbike, of which more than 2000 have been built annually from 2002 onward. In spite of the success of the acclaimed TnT 1130 street fighter introduced a year ago. the turnaround Merloni had hoped for has not so far occurred - and father Vittorio has stipulated it must happen to stem the outflow from family funds needed to prop up his eldest son's ailing enterprise. Benelli has already ceased manufacturing scooters in order to concentrate 100 percent on its motorcycle range, with Merloni seiling the company's range of SOcc scooters to a Chinese manufacturer. With the 50-man Benelli workforce now laid off under the unique Italian casso ;ntegraz;one system, whereby the state pays them to stay at home while efforts are made to set the company which employs them straight, Benelli had been put up for sale at a nominal price as a more-or-Iess going concern by the Merloni family. It originally had a tight deadline to find a new owner by the end of July, failing which the company would close. However, sources reveal that Merloni Senior was persuaded to extend the brand's lease of life a little, thanks to demand for the TnT (2OOS model-year production is sold out) and the imminent production In a story we reported last week, Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) made it official that its motorcycle division will refocus its road racing efforts beginning in 2006. The company plans to redirect its resources toward Amateur competition, stepping up its involvement with Championship Cup Series, Formula USA, WERA and other similar organizations. "Our products work very well in Amateur road racing," said Bob Graham, motorcycle and kart product manager for BFNT. "This year, we have seen an incredible demand for our products at the Amateur level. As a result of this demand, supply was adversely affected. Therefore, we of the cafe racer version. must refocus and correct supply and inven- Smolenski's potential takeover of the Italian bike marque as a subsidiary of TYR seemed to be going well, until the Merlonis discovered late in the day that the Russian's intentions were to shift Benelli production lock, stock and barrel to TYR's factory in Britain, where he planned to restart production at a reduced level of around 750 bikes a year. In view of the problems this would create for the family with the trade union to which Benelli workers belong, the Merlonis are understood to have made it a watertight condition of any possible deal that Benelli must not be moved outside Italy - a stipulation that Smolenski's Pesaro-based rivals are happy to agree to. tory levels for 2006. In 2006, additionally, Expect a firm announcement regarding the outcome of takeover negotiations during September, after the end of the Italian August holiday month. Alan Cathcart Bridgestone will discontinue service opera- tions at the AHA Nationals, focusing on the Amateur-level programs. Bridgestone will maintain the current motorcycle race tire distribution system, which works extremely well. The off-road motorcycle racing programs will remain unchanged." The Australian team for the 200S Motocross of Nations has been selected, which will see Danny Ham and Lee Ellis join forces with World Championship campaigner Andrew McFarlane. In what will be the 59th running of the iconic team event, 2B-year-old Ellis will compete in the Continued on page 15 CYCLE NEWS • AUGUST 31.2005 13