A Brief History of the Marque
Manufactured: 1980-1982
Sanvenero was an Italian motorcycle company founded in the 1980 by Emilio Sanvenero, a Tuscan building contractor and passionate motorcyclist associated with MBA.
His ambitious plan was to manufacture GP machines to compete in the 1981 125cc and 500cc World Championships.
When the racing department of MBA closed in 1982, Emilio convinced the entire staff of the factory in Sant'Angelo in Vado to move to Follonica (GR), with ambitious projects.
In their first year of racing, 1981, the machines did well in the 125 Class with Guy Bertin (FR) and Richard Tormo (ES) each gaining laurels on the Sanvenero twin.
For 1982 Tormo was joined by Pier Paolo Bianchi who finished the season in 4th, with Torno winning the Belgian GP and finishing just one point behind in 5th. The team also won the French GP with Swiss rider Michel Frutschi on the new four cylinder two-stroke Sanvenero which featured rear suspension designed by Antonio Cobas - however this win was controversial as the race had been boycotted by many riders due to the dangerously poor condition of the Nogaro track.
At the end of 1982 the company was in serious debt and the Sanvenero firm was forced to close. Pier Paolo Bianchi obtained several motorcycles from the bankruptcy trustee and achieved good results in the 125 class for the 1983 season.
Sources: MC Storico Conti, et al.
