International Dealer News IDN 153 February/March 2020 | Page 60

PRO GuIDe Vertex 2020 piston off-road line Italian performance piston specialist Vertex had a great year in 2019, playing a leading role in all the major World and European championships, a level of success that has been going on for years and that "shows how Vertex pistons are decisive for the champions' performances". In particular, Vertex Pistons dominated the World Championships: the MXGP with four riders in the top five of the final standings, securing the World title with Tim Gajser of the Honda HRC team and the World Vice- Champion title with Jeremy Seewer of Yamaha Monster Energy Factory team - in addition to the fourth and fifth places respectively of Paulin Gautier and Tonus Arnaud, both of the Yamaha Wilvo team. In MX2, they scored third and fourth places with Jago Geerts of the Yamaha Kemea team and Calvin Vlaanderen of the Honda HRC. There were also excellent results in the Enduro World Championship, with four titles won: the E2 with Loic Larrieu of the TM Racing team; the E3 with Steve Holcombe of Beta Factory team; the EJ with Andrea Verona of TM Racing and the EY with Hamish MacDonald of the Sherco CH Racing team. Vertex pistons were also successful in the EMX85, winning with Edvards Bidzāns and Valerio Lata, taking first and second place in the championship. Such regular success gives the Vertex R&D team access to unparalleled data with which to finesse, tune and perfect its off- road pistons for the motorcycle models of the following year. So Vertex has been able to upgrade this year's Vertex 4-stroke ranges for 2020 models, with its Replica, High Compression, Big Bore and GP-Racer’s Choice versions all updated to meet the ever evolving demands the manufacturers place on their components. The Replica model, made with forged aluminium body, racing profile, anti-seize MoS2 coating and original ring kit, perfectly replaces the standard piston and offers an excellent quality/price ratio. The High Compression range is produced with specific, dedicated forgings and with the shape of the top completely revised by the company's R&D engineers with an increase in the compression ratio to improve power and torque. The Big Bore model, on the other hand, has a profile that is similar to the standard one, but has a larger diameter with a relative increase in the displacement - leading to considerable improvements in performances. At the top of the Vertex Pistons Off-Road range are the internationally noted GP- Racer's Choice line of pistons, hot forged in high resistance VP-310 alloy and equipped with the exclusive F1 inspired Vertex T- Bridge, DLC coated pin, rings in chromed or nitrated steel (depending on the application and a special shape of the head that allows the maximum compression ratio with a great performance) without any loss of reliability. The Vertex Off-Road 4-stroke pistons range is available for Honda CRF, Kawasaki KX-F, Yamaha YZ-F, Suzuki RM-Z 250 and 450 cc and for the KTM SX-F and Husqvarna FC 250, 350 and 450 cc. VERTEX PISTONS/VP ITALY S.R.L. Reggio Emilia, ITALY Tel: [phone] [email protected] www.vertexpistons.com