Superbikes | The partnership between Barni and Showa has been announced

After the excellent 2018 season in which it obtained first place among the independent teams, the BARNI Racing Team is ready to renew the challenge thanks to two big innovations: the Ducati Panigale V4 R and Michael Rinaldi, the best rookie of last year.

The news for the Italian team, however, does not stop here: alongside it there will also be an important technical partner, the Japanese company Showa, one of the most highly regarded suspension manufacturers in the world.
This means that the V4 R will be equipped with the front suspension fork also known as "emerald" while the shock absorbers will be those of the Japanese company.

“Showa needs no introduction in the world of motorsports, they are manufacturers of the best suspension in the world and we are honored to have secured this agreement with them. They decided to believe in our project and we are proud of it” declared Marco Barnabò, team principal of the BARNI Racing Team. “We know that we might have some difficulties at the beginning, but this is the right time to change and introduce new suspension on the bike which, in turn, is completely new.”

The vice president of Showa R&D added: “We are truly honored to collaborate with BARNI Racing Team in 2019. This new project is really important for us to understand how our products are able to adapt to different types of motorcycles. We worked hard to develop this project into which we put all our energy."

During the four days of testing in Jerez and Portimao, Michael Rinaldi was able to work alongside the Showa engineering team to test the new parts on the V4 R.