Addio, Ingeniere...

We are very saddened to hear of the passing of Massimo Tamburini. Born in Rimini, he ran a heating company, but quickly made a name for himself tuning bikes, which eventually led him to co-found Bimota (he was the "ta"). After leaving Bimota and having spent some time working in Roberto Gallina's 500cc GP team, he was head-hunted by Claudio Castiglione to work for Cagiva. It was during his time as head of Cagiva's CRC department that he came up with two eye-opening designs for Ducati: the Paso, with its fully enclosed fairing, and the 916, which even today is still considered by many to be one of the most beautiful bikes ever designed.

Once the Castiglione brothers sold Ducati, he began designing bikes for another brand they had bought, MV Agusta. There, he designed a whole string of striking machines, from the first 1000cc F4 to his last bike for them, the 675cc F3 Brutale. In fact, it can be said that most of MV's range bears Ingeniere Tamburini's mark.