Brave Benelli battle on.

Despite a difficult winter during which the Benelli company struggled with problems in the Italian motorcycle market, Benelli Sport are back contesting the World Superbike championship.

Their first day back in the championship after their debut year in 2001 was not a happy one for the team. Rider Peter Goddard was forced to retire from the free practice and the afternoon's qualifying session after engine problems.

"We have had to take some risks in order to get more power," admitted Team Owner Andrea Merloni, "unfortunately this resulted in some unexpected problems with the engine. We are not sure yet if the problems are due to our changes or just down to bad luck. But we'll be trying our
hardest again on Saturday and we shall soon know if we have been heading in the right direction."

Australian Peter Goddard, who scored championship points in last year's championship on the Benelli Tornado superbike was obviously very disappointed with his day. "Sadly, I didn't get much in the way of track time today," commented Peter.

On the bright side Benelli showed a pre-production version of their Tornado road bike. The motorcycle was spotted by the SBK organisers, and Benelli were asked to wheel it into the SBK paddock show area, where it wowed the crowds. When asked for comment on the machine, onlookers typically responded with "that is the most beautiful motorcycle in the world," or a similar comment.

Some encouragement at least then for the Benelli Sport team on a difficult day. The road bike will be officially launched at the Monza World Superbike round in May.