Italian Flat Track Champion Marco Belli Will Race Again At The 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb – Looking To Advance In A Tough Division

Colorado Springs, December 6———-Two veteran Italian motorcycle racers have entered the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in the loaded 750 CC division.

Italian 2011 flat track champion Marco Belli returns to Pikes Peak after three third-place finishes in the 750 field, including last year’s 12:10.660 clocking which gave him third behind Stuart Sinclair’s new record of 11:27.396.

Belli (Varese, Italy), will race on the Peak next summer on a 2011 Ouroboros Zaeta DT 530 model, the same motorcycle he used last year in taking third in the division and ninth overall in the field of racers.

“I competed with my own bike, a Zaeta DT 530, which I built by myself,” Belli said last summer. “I’m directly involved in the Zaeta project, which is a flat-track racing bike, now available on the market.”

Belli is a very accomplished flat-track racer who three English National Championships (2005, 2007, 2008), four Italian national titles (2001, 2002, 2010, 2011), and two European Mefo Cups (2008, 2010).

Joining him in the 750 Division is racer Mattia Riva (Maslianicocomo Italy), a veteran Supermoto racer who has competed in a number of Italian Championships, taking second place in 2005 and 2006. He will race on the Peak on a 2010 KTM SMR motorcycle.

Already set for the 750 field is 2011 runnerup Gary Trachy (Orange, CA) who clocked 11:32.004 last year behind Sinclair. Trachy has competed in the PPIHC a dozen times and won seven titles.

A total of 95 drivers and racers have registered and additional competitors are being reviewed by the race committee for acceptance.

Official driver and racer registration is open at www.ppihc.com

The deadline for registration is June 15, and only the first 100 motorcycles and 50 autos are guaranteed entry at this point.