MV Agusta has revealed several new race replicas, not only of their F3 and F4 sportsbikes, but also their “fast-touring” Turismo Veloce 800 RC (above).
The Turismo Veloce RC and Lusso models will be unveiled at the EICMA show in Milan next week, while the F3 RC and F4 RC were revealed last week.
MV Agusta F4 RCInterestingly, the photo supplied by MV Agusta of their 2017 model Turismo Veloce Lusso shows the exact same photo of the Lusso as last year. It even has the same paddock stand!
No other details of the new Turismo Veloce models have been released, but we can expect engine upgrades for Euro4 compliance.
MV Agusta Turismo LussoMeanwhile, despite the AMG logo disappearing off their race replica bikes, MV Agusta still has some “co-operation news” with the Germans for next year.
AMG-Mercedes bought a 25% stake in the Italian motorcycle manufacturer in 2014 and has no plans to sell.
Despite a few limited edition models and a race team with AMG badging, MV boss Giovanni Castiglioni has said there has not been much advantage in the relationship for them.
He has even talked up buying back their stake and is busy searching for financial backers.
So when the AMG badging disappeared off the F3 RC and now the F4 RC race replicas last week, it looked ominous.
2015/16 MV Agusta F3 RC with AMG badgingAMG co-operation
However, MV Agusta Australia marketing manager Joshua Pilley says we’re reading too much into it.
“The 2015/16 RC models displayed the AMG badging for no other reason but because it gave exposure to new co-operation with Mercedes-AMG,” he says.
“However, as with most liveries in racing, the livery changed mid-year with the updated version carrying Motul as the main sponsor due to their newly announced relationship.
He insists the AMG links are still firm and have a future.
“That is not to say AMG is no longer part of MV Agusta; nothing has changed there,” Joshua says.
“Mercedes-AMG still have a 25% stake in MV Agusta and the relationship is still robust, with perhaps new co-operation news to come out sometime in 2017.”
So does that mean no AMG-badged new models at the coming EICMA show next week?
“MV Agusta is an ever-evolving brand with many interesting alliances and co-operation that makes the marque so special and leading edge,” Joshua says.
One-off MV Agusta F4Z by Zagato“To think in less than two years they’ve had the likes of Zagato (F4Z), Lewis Hamilton (Brutale 800 Dragster RR LH44), Mercedes-AMG (general partnership and Solarbeam concept), Pirelli (Diablo Rosso Brutale 800) and Motul (general partnership) working close with them, let alone the smaller projects around the world is just amazing.”