hand for the public unveiling of
the Panigale V4 25°Anniversario
916 in Monterey, California, in
conjunction with the World Super-
bike round at Weather Tech Race-
way Laguna Seca. Only 500 of
the machines will be built, MSRP
is €41,900 (about $46,963), and
units are expected to arrive in
dealerships in October 2019.
Husqvarna has released the
competition-only, 2020-model FS
450 Supermoto. The 449cc SOHC
single-cylinder engine has a bore
and stroke of 95.0mm x 63.4mm,
Keihin fuel injection and electric
start, and is mated to a Pankl Rac-
ing Systems five-speed gearbox via
a Suter slipper clutch operated by
Magura hydraulics. The engine
is fitted in a chrome-moly “cen-
tral-tube” frame. The chassis also
includes an aluminum swingarm,
WP suspension, and Alpina spoked
wheels (a 16.5-inch front and 17.0-
inch rear) with Bridgestone slicks.
Claimed dry weight is 227 pounds
(103 kg). MSRP was not available
at press time.
International
Racing NewsItalian Danilo Petrucci, age
28, will remain with Ducati’s fac-
tory MotoGP team in 2020 after
agreeing to a contract extension
with the Italian manufacturer. Af-
ter the first eight rounds of 2019,
Petrucci had finished on the podi-
um three times, including a win at
Mugello, and was third in the World
Championship point standings.
"I'm very happy to continue with
Ducati for another year,” Petrucci
said. “It was my goal ever since the
beginning of this new chapter, be-
cause we immediately found great
chemistry with the team."
South African Brad Binder,
age 23, will move up from KTM’s
factory Moto2 team to join the
Red Bull KTM Tech3 squad for
the 2020 MotoGP World Cham-
pionship. “It is incredible to have
this opportunity,” said Binder,
the 2016 Moto3 World Champion.
“When you are growing up this
is what you aim for—to be in the
Moto GP class with the best riders
in the world with the best bikes—
so it is a crazy feeling right now.”
Following the Superbike
World Championship event at
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna
Seca, the Kawasaki Racing Team
stuck around for an extra day so
Supercross legend Jeremy Mc-
Grath could sample Jonathan
Rea’s Kawasaki ZX-10RR during
a track day organized by Pirelli.
"Riding this bike is like a dream
for me. I am such a big fan of all
of these guys and Jonathan and I
have been friends for a while," said
McGrath, a seven-time AMA Su-
percross Champion. "We’ve been
thinking of doing a bike swap for
a couple of years now, as he rode
motocross with me a couple of
years ago. Trying to learn the track
and the bike was a steep learningcurve. This track is another one I
can check off the bucket list. After
riding the Corkscrew, it was like a
motocross berm, so it was really
fun. I wanted to stay out and go
faster but I’ve had a great day, I
played it smart and I loved it!"
“I was impressed at how fast
he was able to get the hang of
things,” said Rea.
Italian Marco Melandri,
who currently rides for the GRT
Yamaha team in the FIM Super-
bike World Championship, has
announced that he will retire from
professional racing at the end of
the 2019 season. Melandri began
his professional career in 1998,
and went on to win the 250cc GP
World Championship in 2002,
finish runner-up in the MotoGP
World Championship in 2005, and
finish runner-up in the Superbike
World Championship in 2011.
Melandri won 22 Grands Prix (in-cluding five Moto GP races) and 22
World Superbike races. “The deci-
sion to retire was a very difficult
one for me to make,” 36-year-old
Melandri said. “I'd been thinking
about it for some time and, before
the Imola race, I finally decided to
call it a day at the end of the 2019
season. I'm still competitive and
I think it's better to stop at this
point, while I still enjoy racing.
Since making the decision I feel
like a huge weight has been lifted
from my shoulders.”
Spaniard Carlos Tatay, age
15, won both Red Bull MotoGP
Rookies Cup races at TT Circuit
Assen. American Tyler Scott, age
13, finished a season-best 11th in
Race One at Assen, taking 19th
in Race Two. Another 15-year-old
Spaniard, Pedro Acosta, won Red
Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Race
One at Germany’s Sachsenring as
he was leading an eight-rider packwhen the race was stopped pre-
maturely by a red flag after 14 of
19 laps. Tatay came back to take
a close win in Race Two and held a
53-point lead after five of 12 races.
Scott was 19th in both races.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France’s
Mike Di Meglio, Freddy Foray,
and Josh Hook rode their
CBR1000RR SP2 to win the 8
Hours of Oschersleben, the pen-
ultimate round of the 2018-
FIM Endurance World Cham-
pionship. Team SRC Kawasaki
France’s David Checa, Jeremy
Guarnoni, and Erwan Nigon fin-
ished second on their ZX-10RR
and moved into the World Cham-
pionship points lead heading into
the season finale at the Suzuka
8-Hours, in Japan. VRD Igol Pier-
ret Experiences’ Florian Alt, Flo-
rian Marino, and Xavier Simeon
finished third on their Yamaha
YZF-R1 at Oschersleben.Dorna has announced the
new Northern Talent Cup (NTC)
as part of its ongoing “Road to
Moto GP” initiative, supported by
the German sanctioning body
ADAC and KTM, which has devel-
oped a special spec racebike for
the series. When it starts in 2020,
the NTC will be limited to 24 riders
(from any country) between the
ages of 12 and 17. “At least one of
the top riders in the NTC will com-
pete in the Red Bull MotoGP Rook-
ies Cup the following year and at
least two of them will take part in
the Rookies Cup selection event,”
according to a press release is-
sued by Dorna. The NTC series
will use control tire, fuel, and lu-
bricant suppliers; tires, fuel and
oil will be provided free of charge
to participants.
The inaugural Northern Tal-The winning F.C.C. TSR Honda (10) leads the YART Yamaha (7) during the
8 Hours of Oschersleben, the penultimate FIM World Endurance round.The 2020 Husqvarna FS450 Su-
permoto has a Pankl racing trans-
mission and Suter slipper clutch.
(Above) Danilo Petrucci. (Below)
Jeremy McGrath (left) and Jona-
than Rea, with Rea’s racebike.(Above) Marco Melandri with girl-
friend Manuela Raffaeta. (Below)
Brad Binder (41) is headed from
Moto2 to MotoGP next season.Roadracing World, August 2019—