The MIC (Irvine, Ca.) has announced that Chuck Boderman, vice president, General Administration Business Unit at American Honda Motor Co., Inc., has been elected chairman after Paul Vitrano, senior assistant general counsel, Indian Motorcycle and Polaris Inc., stepped down. Bill Jenkins, senior vice president of sales and operations for Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A., was elected vice chair. Jim Woodruff, CEO of National Powersport Auctions remains the board's secretary/treasurer, having been re-elected for another two-year term - along with Dealernews editor Robin Hartfiel and Dealernews and Triumph Motorcycles America general manager Rod Lopusnak. Vitrano has also resigned from the AMA Executive Committee and Board of Directors.
Ducati has reported 59,447 motorcycles sold worldwide in 2021 - its best ever year and +24% over 2020 and +12% over 2019. It reports double-digit growth in all major countries including the United States, which regains the place of top market (9,007 units sold, +32% on 2020), with Australia +50% compared to 2020. They were +23% in Italy (8,707 sales); German sales were 6,107 units (+11% on 2020), and 4,901 units in China (+23%). The Multistrada V4 is its best-seller in 2021 (9,957 units sold), followed by the Ducati Scrambler 800 family (9,059 units) and the Monster with 8,734 motorcycles sold.
With such an enlightened, worldly-wise and "connected" 21st century renaissance man as Jochen Zeitz in charge, it is no wonder that the "Woke Revolution" ESG culture that is shaping boardrooms worldwide has washed up against the shores of the Milwaukee C-Suite. The latest iteration is a change of job title and (presumably) focus for Julie Anding - until recently the Chief Administrative Office (CAO). That title appears to have gone the way of so many other "does what it says on the can" corporate nomenclatures. She is hereby and henceforth to be referred to as the Vice President, Inclusive Stakeholder Management (ISM). Reporting to Andy Benka, President Jochen Zeitz' Chief of Staff, Julie will "lead this critical role with a focus on championing the company's diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Do manufacturing robots dream of electric motorcycles with rainbow paint schemes?
Former factory rider and championship-winning privateer Bryan Smith has been added to the AFT management team as Director of Industry Relations. A primary charge for Smith will be serving as a liaison within the Progressive AFT community. The appointment is intended to more closely connect Progressive AFT with its various stakeholders - riders, teams, manufacturers, sponsors, racetracks and broadcasters. He will support all aspects of the Competition department, including managing rider and team relationships, new rider evaluation, track prep, safety and rules development. Smith will also be available for the series to call on as an elite-caliber test rider, whether to fine-tune the rulebook or assess the viability of potential new venues. The 2016 Grand National Champion and 2012 and 2013 GNC1 Twins Champion, Smith won 33 races during his career and is tied for eighth on the all-time win list.
With support from KTM, Wally Brown Racing (WBR, North Carolina) will run the KTM 890 Duke platform to compete in the 2022 Production Twins class. In its first two years of flat track racing, WBR fielded Suzuki RMZ450s in AFT Singles, scoring eight top-five finishes, three podiums and a victory. The team will focus solely on R&D and testing for the first part of the season and plans to debut the new race bike at The Red Mile in Lexington, KY, in late May 2022.
G&G Racing, a 2-time X AFT Production Twins Championship team, has announced a continuing partnership with Yamaha Racing for a 7th consecutive year, a father and son who have built their own Yamaha MT-07s for the AFT SuperTwins and AFT Production Twins series (and who sponsor amateur and pro riders in flat track and speedway). With Cory Texter as pilot, the past three seasons have seen G&G claim two AFT Production Twins championships and 14 victories among its 27 podium finishes; previous success includes with JD Beach, Mikey Rush and Chad Cose for a total of 29 podiums, 36 top fives and 50 top tens during its six-year partnership with Yamaha to date.
Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MSNW, Electrek, electricmotorcycles.news, RideApart.com, Motor1.com, Cycle World, motorbikewriter.com