MV Agusta Unveils Moto2 Race Bike For 2019

Legendary Italian bike manufacturer MV Agusta is set to re-enter the world of grand prix racing after a gap of forty two years. The bike manufacturer, which won a total of 75 world titles (38 rider and 37 manufacturer) between 1952 and 1974, has unveiled its contender for next season’s Moto2 championship. Finished in a red-and-black paint scheme, the race bike looks sinister. It is a result of MV Agusta’s collaboration with Swiss-based Moto2 team, Forward Racing. Forward’s current chassis supplier, Suter, is also said to be assisting MV Agusta with the project

The racing machine is based on a trellis frame mounted on CNC-machined aluminium side plates and features an aluminium swingarm and Ohlins suspension. It also features 17-inch OZ racing wheels forged from magnesium. All motorcycles for the 2019 season of Moto2 feature Triumph’s 765cc in-line 3-cylinder engines and the MV Agusta is no different. When the season kicks off, the howl of the the inline-three coupled with the SC-Project exhaust is sure to set hearts racing.

"I am really proud to see the dream to rejoin the Motorcycling World Championship come true. I would like to thank all our engineers, technicians and designers, plus the staff of the Forward Racing Team for having carried out this project in such a short amount of time. I want to express my gratitude to Giovanni Cuzari, as he believed in us and pushed us to do our best. Of course there is still a lot of work ahead of us, but step by step we will improve our competitiveness," said Giovanni Castiglioni, president of MV Agusta.

"It's a few years now that we are thinking about a return to the Motorcycling World Championship and with the modification of the regulations of the Moto2 category for 2019 it's the perfect opportunity to express our technical know-how, that we developed during the last six years in which we raced in Superbike and Supersport. The Moto2 project is an ambitious one and we are involving our R&D resources and all our racing experience in order to develop a completely new bike, which differs from all the others and which reflects the values of MV Agusta," said Brian Gillen, project leader.

Of the 75 world titles MV Agusta has won in the past, 18 of them came in the 500cc category with riders such as the legendary John Surtees, Gary Hocking, Mike Hailwood, Phil Read as well as Giacomo Agostini. It’s track dominance continued until Japanese manufacturers introduced faster two-stroke machines in the latter part of the 70s. Let’s hope MV Agusta can replicate its success in the upcoming Moto2 season too.