Pirelli help set six scooter speed records

Pirelli teamed up with Moto Club Benelli and Malossi at Bonneville Speed Week last month to set not one, but six scooter top speed records on three models of the Benelli 491.

The 50cc Benelli managed to set a top speed of 71mph over both the kilometre and mile courses. Pretty impressive when you consider most 50cc scooters will spend there life stuck at 30mph. Maybe they’ll reach an indicated 40mph down a steep hill.

The 85cc Benelli scooter managed to set speeds of 82.64 and 82.43mph, while the 100cc scoot exceeded 88mph on both runs. The engines in all three machines were tuned by Jörg Möller.

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Project engineer Fabio Fazi set the first two records, while the remaining four were set by former World and Italian Superbike rider Mauro Sanchini, who started his career racing scooters for Malossi in the 1990s.

“I am delighted for the great results we have achieved,” said Sanchini. “It has been a great experience in a place that every biker must experience at least once in life. Thanks to Pirelli, Malossi and Benelli and all the guys of the team for their efforts in making all the necessary changes for this strange track. When you ride on salt you really understand the challenge, which adds even more value to the records we’ve reached. Now the challenge is to improve the result!”

Testing Department Director of Pirelli Moto, Salvo Pennisi, commented, “Chasing World Records is not new to Pirelli. Since 2000 we have achieved 21 World Records and with these six records we will enrich our haul! We were requested to participate in this adventure and immediately agreed. The timing was perfect considering the fact that this year we introduced the new Diablo Rosso Scooter tyres and we were confident that their performance could play a vital role in achieving this challenging and passionate goal.”

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