On April 3, 1988, Davide Tardozzi wrote his name into the annals of Superbike racing by winning the first ever Superbike World Championship race at Donington Park on a Bimota YB4. Nearly four decades later, the Italian marque is back on the world stage, ready to reconnect with its glorious past, with the strategic support of Kawasaki.
Founded in 1966 by Valerio Bianchi, Giuseppe Morri and Massimo Tamburini, Bimota was born from a shared passion for motorcycling. Although the company started out manufacturing air conditioning equipment, Tamburini quickly oriented the company towards creating revolutionary chassis for competitions.
The 1980s marked the golden age of the brand, with successes in Grand Prix and Superbike, thanks in particular to talented engineers like Federico Martini. I have very good memories of that time. ", shared Davide Tardozzi in an interview with speedweek. " Bimota stood for pure innovation. Martini was a genius who transformed Yamaha engines with injection systems well before the others »
Davide Tardozzi: “ The Bimota brand is no longer the one I knew, but it remains a legendary brand »
After a failed attempt in 2014, the situation is very different today. Since With Kawasaki's acquisition of 49,9% of the shares in 2019, Bimota has come back to lifeStrategic investments have helped to relaunch production and develop the KB998, a homologated motorcycle that embodies technical innovation.
« We designed a powerful, high-speed motorcycle ", explains Pierluigi Marconi, operations director at Bimota. " Our electronically adjustable wings are unique and automatic. They optimize aerodynamics according to the speed and angle of each curve »
To Tardozzi, the return of Bimota is an excellent strategic decision. The brand Bimota is no longer the one I knew, but it remains a legendary brand. As a small structure, it has more technical freedom than the Kawasaki factory itself. I am sure they will succeed. »
With high ambitions and cutting-edge technology, Bimota could well write a new chapter in the history of Superbike.
