MV Agusta will return to grand prix racing after a four-decade break, in the Moto2 class via a relationship with the Forward Racing team.
The Italian marque was the most successful manufacturer in the early days of grand prix motorcycle racing, with MotoGP legend Giacomo Agostini taking 13 of his 15 titles with MV Agusta equipment, across the 350 and 500cc classes.
MV Agusta will join the Moto2 field next year in a partnership with the Forward Racing team, who currently run the only Suter bikes on this year’s grid, for Stefano Manzi and Brazillian Eric Granado.
Suter will provide the forks for the new machine, with the bike reportedly set to take heavy design cues from MV Agusta as opposed to a simple paint scheme.
The bikes will be powered by the new three-cylinder Triumph engines that will take over from the current four-cylinder Honda units that have powered Moto2 since its inception for 2010.
MV Agusta currently run in the World Superbike and World Supersport championships, with ex Moto2 race winner Jordi Torres riding the F4 superbike. Raffaele de Rosa and Ayrton Badovini pilot the factory F3 675 MV Agusta’s in Supersport, de Rosa having scored a pair of third places so far this year.
MV’s Superbike effort has so far failed to reach the podium, although Leon Camier came agonisingly close several times last year before leaving to head up the Honda WSBK squad.
