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More bad news comes from Italy, as MV Agusta has come under investigation by the Guardia di Finanza for allegedly misusing its employees’ INPS contributions (Italy’s national pension system, similar to the USA’s Social Security system), which may have gone to paying bills from suppliers, to the tune of €6.8 million.

To put this into context for our American readers, Italy’s Guardia di Finanza is law enforcement agency that handles financial crimes – its duties and powers are analogous to the intersection on a Venn diagram that is composed of our IRS, FTC, and US Customs bureaus.

Italian businesses are required to pay into the INPS pensions of their employees, and here the Guardia di Finanza has been investigating whether MV Agusta used those funds instead to pay its supplier invoices. MV Agusta CEO Giovanni Castiglioni denies the allegations, though has some financial issues of his own to contend with.

When we rode the MV Agusta Brutale 800 earlier this year, we called it the best motorcycle ever to come out of Varese, Italy. The current Brutale 800 is finally a motorcycle that comes from fully baked from the MV Agusta factory, and it shows what the Italian company can accomplish.

Riding through the MV Agusta Brutale 800 at the press launch, our only lament was our desire for more power from the 800cc three-cylinder engine. Thankfully, the Italians have heard our request.

Debuting at the EICMA show in Milan, the 2017 MV Agusta Brutale 800 RR comes with all the refinements we praised in the Brutale 800 model, and adds a 140hp peak power figure to the mix (63 lbs•ft @ 10,100 rpm), along with new forged wheels and updated electronics.

MV Agusta has unveiled in court its plan to get back to financial stability, after seeing cash flow issues reaching a zenith in March 2016.

The plan is exactly as it has been previously advertised by MV Agusta CEO Giovanni Castiglioni: MV Agusta will reduce its workforce, produce fewer machines, focus on high-margin models, and seek a freeze on its debts to creditors and suppliers.

Whether the Varesini court will accept this plan remains to be seen, it will also require some buy-in from MV Agusta’s creditor and suppliers, who are owed €50 million from MV Agusta.

Like with its three-cylinder counterparts, virtually no changes come to the 2017 MV Agusta F4 RC – the Varese company’s 212hp homologation special (with the supplied race kit, of course).

Still, this fine-looking Italian is worth some pixels, especially in high-definition photos.

Though MV Agusta is making great strides in the World Superbike Championship, next season will see Leon Camier using the same machinery as this year, with the team working towards its first podium finish with the MV Agusta F4.

With MV Agusta’s financial future still a bit uncertain, it’s not clear when we will see the next generation superbike, with the 2018 season being the earliest hope for Camier and the Reparto Corse team.

Until then, we will have to make do with these drool-worthy photos. You have to admit, no matter how it performs on the track, MV Agusta makes one good looking superbike.

Which rider has exceeded pre-season expectations the most in the 2016 WorldSBK season? For many inside the paddock, Leon Camier is the most popular and obvious response.

Coming into the season there was little expected of the Italian manufacturer, but eight Top 6 finishes mean it is easy to see why Camier’s performances are being hailed.

The fortunes of MV Agusta in 2016 have surpassed expectations to such a degree that there is now the expectation rather than hope of podium finishes.

“I think a lot of our improvement this year comes down to personnel,” said Camier, after the Jerez round of the championship. “Mainly it comes down to just having a little bit more structure in the team, so they can get the changes done they needed to get done.”

“The team is now more streamlined and Andrea Quadranti is the one boss. We brought in some extra staff, and that has helped, but we knew last year what we needed to change with the bike, and we’ve been able to make those changes this year.”

Having announced his decision to re-sign with the team for a third season, the changes made to the team and the improvement to the bike mean that he is well-placed to finally give the manufacturer their maiden podium finish.

Leon Camier will continue with the MV Agusta factory team in World Superbike next season, signing a new contract with the Italian factory during the Jerez race weekend.

This is good news, both for Camier and MV Agusta, as the pair have made great strides this season with the MV Agusta F4 racing platform. Camier currently sits eighth in the World Superbike standings, and has finished in the Top 5 on seven occasions so far this season.

Consistently punching higher than his weight class, with the aged superbike, Camier will head into the 2017 with good momentum, and a team that seems to grow stronger with each passing round.

We have talked before about the limited edition models of the MV Agusta F3 675 RC and MV Agusta F3 800 RC, special edition machines that carry the livery of MV Agusta’s World Supersport effort.

Nothing significant has changed for the 2017 model year, which means this is yet again another exercise primarily in aesthetic. Still, we imagines the 350 owners who are fortunate enough to purchase one of these RC machines will be happy with their acquisition.

For our part, we couldn’t pass up sharing these 23 high-resolution photos of these gorgeous machines. Enjoy them, after the jump.

The decision on whether to be conservative or aggressive with your choices wasn’t the key in Magny-Cours, rather it was just about having belief in your convictions.

With a drying track, Chaz Davies was one of the few riders to start the race with intermediate tires, and the gamble proved worth the risk for the Ducati rider, as he romped to victory.

In the early stages, with a wet track, Davies was a sitting duck to riders with more grip from full wet-weather tires. The Welshman even said afterwards that “I was so slow that I wouldn’t have been surprised if someone had hit me!”

When the track started to dry, the race came to Davies, and rather than being a sitting duck he became a shark and picked off his rivals. It was an inspired race by Davies who rarely seemed to have push but instead kept calm and allowed the race to come to him.

It was a weekend of contrasts in Germany. Four weathers in a race weekend is usually something associated with Phillip Island, but with 86°F temperatures having welcomed the WorldSBK paddock from their summer break, the heat gradually transitioned to a downpour on a cold and windy Sunday.

With Chaz Davies and Jonathan Rea claiming the spoils in the races, there was little reason to think that this was a standout weekend, but in many ways the German round of WorldSBK could prove pivotal when the season concludes.

You know the new-bike season is just around the corner, because we’re starting to get glimpses of what the motorcycle OEMs will debut at shows like INTERMOT and EICMA.

We’ve already had a glimpse of the 2017 Honda CBR1000RR, as well as the 2017 BMW S1000R, and if the folks at Italian motorcycle magazine Motociclismo are correct, the following is a concept sketch of the four-cylinder 2017 MV Agusta Brutale.

The new Brutale is one of two new bikes that MV Agusta will launch at the EICMA show, with the other machine pegged as a special edition three-cylinder model.

It seems MV Agusta really couldn’t wait until September 4th to show us its collaboration with Italian coachbuilder Zagato, because today we have a high-resolution gallery of this one-off machine.

As the name suggests, the MV Agusta F4Z started life as an MV Agusta F4 superbike. Zagato then gave the F4 a visual restyling, with the intake, fuel tank, battery, and exhaust system all having to be redesigned to accommodate the flowing bodywork.

The lines of the MV Agusta F4Z are certainly polarizing, especially for hardcore fans of the MV Agusta brand, and that is probably just fine. This is because the MV Agusta F4Z is to be a one-of-one design, with a wealthy Japanese entrepreneur said to be the bike’s final recipient.

You can continue your love/hate relationship with this motorcycle after the jump, with some very high-resolution photos.