Pesaro and the motorcycle

The engine is in the soul of Pesaro, the engine in its freest form, the most playful and in tune with the environment, the one more suitable for moving on beautiful roads than from the Adriatic Sea, crossing spectacular hills, arrive in the Apennines between the Marches, Romagna Umbria and Tuscany. Pesaro is a city of motorcycles. It has been for more than 100 years (see our news ) considering that in the 1911 here a brand of absolute importance in the history of motorcycling was born: Benelli, still active today, the motorcycle manufacturer that already in the 1920s consecrated Italian champion Tonino Benelli, one of its founders, and makes its production known throughout Europe.

Motorcycles in Pesaro are therefore passion, work, sport, history, culture, but it is also the means that expresses the character of this city well, ready to get involved, to compete, to grow solid economies without losing sight of the things that make people's lives and an entire community beautiful. Pesaro boasts motorcycle companies that have made an important contribution to the city's productive fabric and to the development of the local motorcycle movement, workshops that have made road and racing bikes that have risen to the top of national and world rankings such as: Molaroni, Benelli, MotoBi, It's raining, Mancini, Morbidelli, MBA, Sanvenero, Ringhini and TM Racing. Benelli is currently still in business, which belongs to a Chinese group, but keeps in Pesaro the “know how” of the brand and TM Racing, company of “niche” which produces motocross bikes, biker, enduro and flat track of the highest quality, as well as kart engines that are the world reference in the sector.

There is also an extraordinary concentration of drivers like Tonino Benelli, 4 times Italian champion, Dorino Serafini, pilot full of temperament, Paolo Campanelli, the longest-lived rider of the world championship, Silvio Grassetti, generous driver who failed to collect what he deserved, Eugenio Lazzarini, 3 times world champion, Graziano Rossi, vice champion of the world, Valentino Rossi, that needs no introduction, Alex Baldolini, Simone Grotskyj Giorgi, new recruits, heirs of the champions of the past, just to name the most representative, even if the periods in which they competed cannot be compared.

In Pesaro the Motoclub Pesaro Tonino Benelli and the Motoclub E. Lazzarini, who with their associates are tireless in organizing rallies and initiatives throughout the year in which famous members also participate.

And so today the city of Pesaro looks at the motorcycle not only from a sporting and industrial point of view, but also in that of reconstruction of memory and local identity, of the training and educational commitment e, certainly not last, of the tourist proposal. The municipal administration has activated collaborations with various protagonists of the city motorcycle activities.

A far-reaching project is that of "Officine Benelli", which saw the recovery of the old factory complex, with its large and suggestive spaces, to assign it to the Benelli Motorcycle Museum, MotoBi and other motorcycles from the Marche region, cultural center for documentation and dissemination of motorcycle culture, conference room, school of restoration of vintage motorcycles, meeting point and seat of the Motoclub e Benelli Historical Register.

The thousand square meters of the "Officine Benelli" in Viale Mameli 22 they are the latest example of industrial archeology in Pesaro, historic headquarters of the engineering company that contributed to writing the history of the city. In the premises of the old Benelli factory they are now on permanent display 150 Benelli and MotoBi motorcycles. Photographs of motorcycle racers riding Benelli and MotoBi motorcycles are exhibited in the various rooms, trophies of all ages and Benelli engines, MotoBi. and Molaroni. Absolutely I detect a De Dion Bouton tricycle, two very rare Molaroni motorcycles from the twenties and even thirties Benelli built before the Second World War and absolutely protagonists for technical and aesthetic refinement in the thirties

Another city excellence consisted of the private museum created by Giancarlo Morbidelli, prominent figure in the Italian motorcycle scene - the 10 February 2020 after a life spent chasing his dream on two wheels. Born in Pesaro in 1934, Morbidelli was a genius of mechanics, a brilliant entrepreneur, a motorcycling legend who made a name for himself in the 1970s by winning eight world titles in the classes 125 e 250. In 2000 he had inaugurated his incredible museum dedicated to history, to technical evolution and motorcycle competitions.

In September 2020, ASI has acquired a very important part of the precious part of the precious collection, avoiding the definitive dispersion of a heritage that represents the evolution of the motorcycle from its origins to the 1950s 1900. Most of the bikes, indeed, it had already been taken abroad to be sold at auction. The Municipality of Pesaro also played a fundamental role in the affair and will make a prestigious location available so that the Collection can be visited again..

The collection acquired by ASI is made up of 71 motorcycles and the famous BBC car (Benelli, Beretta, Castelbarco) presented at the Turin Motor Show of 1952 but never went into production. The bikes represent 30 different brands around the world. The oldest is a very rare Moto Rêve 275 of the 1907; the most precious is undoubtedly the Benelli GP 4 250 Competition of 1942: the only existing example in the world designed by the Pesaro motorcycle manufacturer, now valued at more than half a million euros. To stay in the Marche region - where tradition and passion for engines have deep roots - we can mention the Benelli GP 175 used in 1934 by the aforementioned world champion Dorino Serafini.

Finally, let us recall l’Academy VR46 which is undoubtedly an excellence of our territory, “creature” wanted by Valentino Rossi who for years has been a hotbed of young promises of Italian motorcycling. Two Moto2 world champions emerged from the Academy: Franco Morbidelli (2017) e Francesco (I Peak) Bagnaia (2018).

The Municipal Administration is also planning a plant inside a river stage, for a motodrome, kart track and cross track in collaboration with an important local company, a project that we hope will see the light in a short time.

So the motorcycle is in the DNA and in the history of Pesaro on a par with tourism, another element that has marked the city's identity for more than a century and certainly the attention to motorbike-loving guests could not be missing. These short lines are dedicated to them and the welcoming initiatives that the Municipality of Pesaro, founding member of the national circuit of the Cities of Motors, promotes through special agreements with hoteliers, with institutions, with all the other territorial realities that make a holiday on a motorcycle in our lands unforgettable.