Exceptional, unbelievable, historical, unreal … The superlatives don’t seem to seize when we talk about the machines that will be present at the next Bikers’Classics, on 1, 2 and 3 July. We already know that for the first time, there will be MotoGP’s, but there are jewels in each category. «The crowd in Spa will be able to admire a panoply of historical machines, motorcycles that one wouldn’t have been able to approach in the boxes », says Bernard Girardot-Miglierina, president of the Amicale Spirit of Speed, main supplier of the GP Parade machines. « MotoGP’s, Moto2’s, factory Superbikes, Grand Prix machines from the seventies till the nineties, up until the last 250 cc’s in history… No limit will be the slogan for this new Parade !»
Just a small preview of what you should not miss out on …
The real stars of the 2016 edition, the MotoGP’s will make a remarkable debut on the most beautiful track in the world. At this moment, the Ducati D16 GP10 is (up till now …) the last Ducati to have won a Grand Prix. With Casey Stoner in 2010. That year, the Australian rider finished 4th in the championship (behind Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Rossi), but he won the GP races of Aragon and Malaysia. The Doctor himself would be seduced by its performances because later on, in August 2010 he signed a contract with the Italian factory… The D16 GP10 ex-Stoner will be one of the main attractions during the several GP Parades.
The two Kawasaki ZX-RR won’t be second to none, especially as the brand produced some real museum worthy machines in this category. End 2002, Kawasaki decided to retire from the WC Superbike and focus on the MotoGP with Gary McCoy and the German Alex Hofmann. After a difficult start with an adapted Superbike, an entirely new prototype was developed in 2004. This prototype will be present at the Bikers’Classics in the Hofmann version, who finished 15th in the championship with a 4th place for the factory in the constructors’ championship. A year later, the green ones kept Hofmann but also aligned Olivier Jacque and Shinya Nakano. The number 19 of the French rider will also be present in Spa.
The Moto2’s of today are yesterday’s 250 cc’s. Two representatives of this new category (which was founded in 2010) will also be there, and not just any two ! Next to the Kalex world champion of Johan Zarco the Suter Repsol of Marc Marquez, vice-champion in 2011 will also be worth wile.
And we haven’t even talked about the Superbikes of Niall MacKenzie (Yamaha YZF 0WJ6 1998), Troy Bayliss (Ducati 996 RR 1998) and Chris Walker (Kawasaki ZX7RR 1998) ! And the 500cc GP’s who have touched generations of fans (Yamaha YZR 0WC1 1990, Yamaha YZR 500 ROC, Honda 500 NSR V2 2000, Kawasaki 500 H1RA 1972, Suzuki RG 500 1976 till 1980…) ! Or what to think about the Formula 750’s such as the Yamaha TZ, Kawasaki KR and the Honda CR ? In short, enough machines to feast your eyes and ears on and around the track of Spa on July 1st, 2nd and 3rd. The entire program is available at www.bikersclassics.be.
