Pope Benedict XVI blesses Harley-Davidson tanks in Vatican city

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Harley-Davidson will be celebrating its 110th Anniversary from June 13th to the 16th 2013 in the eternal city of Rome and to kick off the countdown to the event, Pope Benedict XVI blessed and signed two commemorative HD motorcycle gas tanks presented to him by Willie G. Davidson, grandson of one of the company’s founders, and next year the Pope will also be blessing the bikes when they gather at St. Peters Square.

Both tanks will be returned to be mounted on two motorcycles - one will be displayed in the Harley-Davidson Museum, while the other will be auctioned to support the Good Samaritan Foundation.

Press Release:

Next June, tens of thousands of Harley-Davidson riders and fans from around the globe are expected to make their way to Italy’s capital city to celebrate Harley-Davidson’s 110th Anniversary and the shared passion for freedom that unites riders everywhere.

Pope Benedict XVI along with Willie G. Davidson, grandson of one of Harley-Davidson’s founders and his son, Bill Davidson, Vice President of the Harley-Davidson Museum, launched the countdown to Harley-Davidson’s 110th Anniversary event in Rome, June 13-16, 2013, by presenting two commemorative motorcycle gas tanks to the Pope for a blessing. The tanks will be signed by Pope Benedict, Willie G. and Bill, and mounted on two motorcycles—one will return to the company’s hometown of Milwaukee to be displayed at the Harley-Davidson Museum, while the other will be auctioned to support the Good Samaritan Foundation.

“The 110th Anniversary Celebration will be a rockin’ party and so much more,” said Ken Ostermann, Harley-Davidson’s General Manager of International Marketing Operations. “Along with next year’s 110th Anniversary events around the world, the event in Rome is truly the most epic way we can show our thanks for the 110 years of riding and fun our passionate fans have given Harley-Davidson.”

Highlights of Harley-Davidson’s 110th Anniversary Celebration in Rome next year include a party in the Port of Ostia, a parade through the heart of Rome, two headlining concerts at Stadio Olimpico and a papal bike blessing at St. Peter’s Square.

“We’re anticipating next year’s celebration in Rome to be one of the largest events we’ve ever held outside the U.S.,” said Ostermann. “That is a strong testament to our continued global transformation as we respond to our growing fan base all over the world.”

The Harley-Davidson 110th Anniversary is a year-long, global celebration featuring 12 anniversary experiences the company will bring to existing motorcycle events in global markets through September 2013. The events span 11 countries on six continents.

Capping the global experiences are two main anniversary events in Rome and Milwaukee. The event in Milwaukee Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 2013, is an expanded celebration including fan-organized rides to the city, a party on the shores of Lake Michigan, a massive parade, activities at the Harley-Davidson Museum and three headlining concerts.

For more information about the 110th Anniversary events, visit h-d.com/110.

Louis Rossi to switch to Moto2 with Tech3 Racing

This year’s Le Mans Moto3 winner Louis Rossi will be switching categories next season and will be moving up to Moto2 to ride the Mistral 610 for Herve Poncharal’s Tech3 Racing team.

“I am delighted that Louis has decided to commit his future to Tech 3 Racing Moto2 Team. I have monitored him very closely and he is a rider with great potential who I am really looking forward to help take the next step in his career. I am confident the combination of Louis and the Tech 3 Racing’s Mistral 610 project will be a formidable one in 2013,” said Poncharal who will be giving the 23-year old Le Mans born rider the new opportunity.

Rossi who is currently 13th in the Moto3 standings, will be replacing Bradley Smith who will be moving to Tech3’s Yamaha MotoGP team in 2013.

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Randy de Puniet and Aleix Espargaro re-confirmed with Aspar in 2013

Randy de Puniet and team mate Aleix Espargaro will be both back on the MotoGP grid next season with Aspar’s Power Electronics CRT Team.

Aspar Martinez has decided to renew their contracts for another year and the Power Electronics team is ruling in the CRT class with 11 ‘wins’ out of 14 rounds, with De Puniet taking five and Espargaro six with their ART machines and a couple of times they’ve also finished in the top ten.

Jorge Martínez ‘Aspar’: “We are delighted to be able to confirm both Aleix Espargaró and Randy De Puniet for next season. Aleix started the season a little behind Randy but with the right system and a lot of hard work he is now at an outstanding level, both in terms of the technical aspect and his riding. He has improved a lot and we are all very happy with that. All I am asking him is to keep going like this because I think he has the potential to continue developing and growing in the future. Randy is having a very strong season. Thanks also to him the POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar Team is the reference point in the new concept of MotoGP. Randy has proven his expertise at MotoGP level and every other category he has raced in and I am very happy to continue with such a solid project. I hope that with these two riders in place the POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar Team can continue to move forward.”…

“I am very happy to extend my contract with the POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar Team. Even though the season is not yet over it has been a positive one for us and the best option for my future career is to stay where I am. Over the course of the year I have managed to develop an almost perfect understanding with my engineers, which is something very important, especially looking towards next year. I hope we can be just as competitive next season, which will be another year of preparation and experience for 2014 when the major rule changes take place,” said De Puniet.

from Twowheelsblog

Honda Livery Magny Cours 2012

Honda’s World Superbike Team will debuting a special livery for the final round of the 2012 World Superbike championship at Magny-Cours this weekend.

The new paint job is based on the 2013 version of the Fireblade that was unveiled this week at the Intermot motorcycle show in Cologne, Germany and Jonathan Rea and Hiroshi Aoyama’s machines will also feature the headlight stickers that will be obligatory in next year’s World Superbike championship (Kawasaki was the first team to adopt the new ruleback in June) to try to convince fans that their is some similarity between the race machine and the road machine.

“I like this new paint scheme, especially as it underlines the fact that we’re racing on production bikes that you can buy at your local Honda dealer. Ours are maybe a little more sophisticated, but the link is definitely there,” said Jonathan Rea.

With Pata coming aboard as the title sponsor, next season Jonathan Rea and new teammate Leon Haslam will have completely new livery graphics on their CBR1000RRs.

from Twowheelsblog