Photo: bimotaaustralia.com.au
Last week we reported on how Bimota had failed once more to meet the minimal production numbers for World Superbike homologation and that Dorna and the FIM agreed to cut the now Swiss owner manufacturer some slack to sort things out. However this was to no avail, as speedweek reports that tomorrow (Thursday) Bimota will announce that they will retire for racing in the WSBK EVO class.
Even though Dorna and the FIM agreed to reduce drastically the homologation requirements for both Bimota and Erik Buell Racing in an effort to draw more manufacturers into racing, only the American manufacturer managed to meet these numbers. With the initial 3,000 units produces in 2 years reduced to only 1,000, 500 of which in the first year and only 125 needed to allow the manufacturer to start earning points, it looks like this was still more than Bimota could deliver.
The same Swiss source mentions that even though Bimota VP Daniele Longoni was exceedingly confident in the progress of the company last April, the business model turned out to be much less efficient than initially expected. With no bike storage capacity, Bimota used to build and ship bikes when they were ready, believing that the initial 30 or so orders were only the beginning of a great new era in race bikes history.
Still, the undersized and undermanned production facility proved to be unable to manufacture enough bikes for WSBK homologation, or even secure conformed parts orders for the remainder of the bikes, a thing which Dorna could consider as proof for the continued production process.
Even more, Bimota reportedly decided to stop working with their importer in Germany because of rather fuzzy reasons Bimota by Wilbers GmbH mangers Benny Wilbers and Burkhard Stember are still trying to figure out. “Bimota failed to understand the plans and policies of the Wilbers group, or at least pretended not to,” the Wilbers officials told speedweek.
Riders Ayrton Badovini and Christian Iddon will thus be forced to look for a new job, but luckily they are under contract with Bimota’s (soon to be former) partner, Belgian racing outfit Alstare, so their future will most likely lie with whatever bike manufacturer Alstare boss Francis Batta will team up with (Aprilia rumored).
Bimota’s BMW S1000RR-powered BB3 racing bike was offered for a base price around €40,000 ($53,385) with complete customization for each individual client. Still, with BMW’s S1000RR to its racing-focused HP4 machine retailing for a fraction of this price, it’s easy to figure out where many of the potential buyers went. Enjoy the Bimota BB3 gallery after the jump, courtesy of bimotaaustralia.
The same Swiss source mentions that even though Bimota VP Daniele Longoni was exceedingly confident in the progress of the company last April, the business model turned out to be much less efficient than initially expected. With no bike storage capacity, Bimota used to build and ship bikes when they were ready, believing that the initial 30 or so orders were only the beginning of a great new era in race bikes history.
Still, the undersized and undermanned production facility proved to be unable to manufacture enough bikes for WSBK homologation, or even secure conformed parts orders for the remainder of the bikes, a thing which Dorna could consider as proof for the continued production process.
Even more, Bimota reportedly decided to stop working with their importer in Germany because of rather fuzzy reasons Bimota by Wilbers GmbH mangers Benny Wilbers and Burkhard Stember are still trying to figure out. “Bimota failed to understand the plans and policies of the Wilbers group, or at least pretended not to,” the Wilbers officials told speedweek.
Riders Ayrton Badovini and Christian Iddon will thus be forced to look for a new job, but luckily they are under contract with Bimota’s (soon to be former) partner, Belgian racing outfit Alstare, so their future will most likely lie with whatever bike manufacturer Alstare boss Francis Batta will team up with (Aprilia rumored).
Bimota’s BMW S1000RR-powered BB3 racing bike was offered for a base price around €40,000 ($53,385) with complete customization for each individual client. Still, with BMW’s S1000RR to its racing-focused HP4 machine retailing for a fraction of this price, it’s easy to figure out where many of the potential buyers went. Enjoy the Bimota BB3 gallery after the jump, courtesy of bimotaaustralia.
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