Sitting between sessions, gave me a chance to chat with US importer John Murray, and I learned the frame is a Poggipolini design, made from lightweight Chrome-Moly. The tank, seat, fairing and belly pan are all carbon-fibre.  Every nut and bolt, fastener, connector or cover is made from Titanium. Also, parts like the gas cap, footpegs, brackets and hangers are all made from the precious super light metal. This is the major part of the Poggipolini business as suppliers to F1, World Superbike and Moto GP teams.

The titanium exhaust is made by the Italian company HPE, and sounds absolutely awesome. Another comment I heard from other riders was they could definitely all hear the bike coming.

As mentioned earlier, the front fork is a race derived Marzocchi and the rear shock an interesting looking unit from a company called Double System. It is used for its remarkably light weight, but you can specify an Ohlins if you want.  The bikes can be custom tailored to each individual owner. I have no complaint with the system and didn’t make a change to the set up. I just couldn’t ride the bike hard enough to find any handling deficiencies so left both ends well alone. The wheels are simply works of art: Marchesini magnesium 10-spoke forged rims which also help to keep the weight down.

Walking around the bike, the brushed alloy swing arm, the intricate STM Italy hydraulic clutch reservoir, the digital instrument panel, and the multi adjustable levers will have you drooling down your leathers. The bike doesn’t have a high bling factor, as it is all about function and in some ways is a little understated. This is deliberate, as intended owners are not out to win races or prize money with this bike; they are just after the ultimate track day experience. A bike that makes going fast so incredibly easy and with such style.

At $35,000 US ($45,000 Australian) I am going to be scratching a lot of tickets in the near future.  One thing is for sure, nothing on the racetrack is ever going to feel so good.