KIWI RIDER 08 2019 VOL.1 | Page 22

plus participants will be able to sign up for test rides on Guzzi’s full line of bikes. The Official Historic Archive will be available for those who want to research the origin of their own bikes, whereas members of “The Clan”, the community of Guzzi loving bikers, will have special services, such as reserved parking, a free bike check, a welcome kit and discounts on the Moto Guzzi brand collection. The complete programme is still being finalised and updates will be available at motoguzzi.com, and on its social channels. PIKES PEAK BANS BIKES Following the tragic death of Ducati rider Carlin Dunne at this year’s running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, the organisation has decided to ban motorcycles from the event for the foreseeable future. In a statement, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb board of directors has confirmed that the 2020 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will not include a motorcycle programme while analysis for long-term viability of the race on two wheels is conducted. The Board of Directors of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb recently convened to review the 2019 event. It was decided that in order to determine the long-term viability of the motorcycle program there will be no motorcycle programme offered in 2020 so that race organisers can gather data and analytics to review more thoroughly the impact on the overall event in the absence of this programme. “Motorcycles have been a part of the PPIHC for the past 29 years, and their history on America’s Mountain dates back to the inaugural running in 22 KIWI RIDER 1916,” said Tom Osborne, PPIHC Chairman. “That said, the motorcycle programme hasn’t been an annual event. They have run 41 of the 97 years we’ve been racing on Pikes Peak. It’s just time to take a hard look at every aspect of the race, including the motorcycle programme, and determine whether or not the event may change,” he added. PPIHC staff and board members will continue to track all metrics related to the annual race and make a final determination in late 2020 about whether or not the inclusion of a motorcycle program will take place in future years. If two wheels don’t return, it will mean that US-based Australian rider Rennie Scaysbrook – who won on a 2018 Aprilia Tuono 1100 V4 following the tragic loss of Carlin Dunne – will be the last motorcycle champion of Pikes Peak. Fingers crossed they can work this out and bring bikes back in 2021!