Benelli Nearly Ready

BENELLI NEARLY READY

Remember the Beneili Tornado Tre, the green-and-silver star of the 1999 Milan Show? Since then, we’ve seen the bike do a parade lap at the Isle of Man TT, but beyond that, there has been very little news from the folks at company headquarters in Pesaro, Italy.

So imagine our surprise to hear that the bike is almost ready to make its competition debut.

Peter Goddard, the 37-year-old Australian who rode the Aprilia RSV Mille in its developmental World Superbike season, has moved to San Marino to help the Beneili Sport team ready the Tornado for the WSB round at Misano on June 24.

Goddard tested the bike for the first time at Mugello on April 23-24, and reportedly was impressed with its handling. The only remaining step is increasing the 900cc Tripie’s output to a competitive level.

This year marks Benelli’s 90th anniversary, so what better way to commemorate the occasion than by returning to racing?

-Brian Catterson