Now here’s something you don’t get to read on this part of cyberspace a lot: something about the most beautiful two-wheeled rides on the road. You might think that it’s all about looking macho and stuff, but there are still people who care to acknowledge the aesthetic characteristics of motorcycles. And by aesthetic we mean, beauty – from the eyes of those in the arts, fashion, and design.

Web Bike World reports that last May 22 the Theatre of the Istituto Europeo di Design in Milan hosted the international Jury for "The World’s Most Beautiful Motorcycle" award.

Headed by Enrico Leonardo Fagone, the Jury consists of fashion designers, architects, artists, designers and experts of transportation design: Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, Alessandro Belli, Mario Bellini, Giacomo Bertolazzi, Lorenzo Bianda, Aldo Colonetti, Massimo Fiorentino, Alessandro Giudice, Shinya Iwakura and Kenneth Noland.

This award is yet another of Museum’s promotional activities: the company, headed by Bruno Alfieri, aims to honor and re-launch the artistic achievement in products that truly represent "design in motion" and organizes every year the renowned "The World’s most Beautiful Automobile" and "The World’s most Beautiful Truck" prizes.

After careful scrutiny of the latest motorcycles and scooter models – the highest expression of style on two wheels – presented by European, Japanese and US makers, the Jury announced the winners:

Fully Faired Streetbike Category
1st: Ducati 1098 - 13 points.  
2nd: MV Agusta F4R312 - 8 points

Unfaired Streetbike Category
1st: Bimota DB6 Delirio 1100 - 9 points.  
2nd: Aprilia Shiver 750 - 8 points.

Off-Road Category
1st: Husqvarna SM610IE - 13 point.  
2nd: Ducati Hypermotard 1100 - 7 points.

Scooters
1st: Vespa S - 10 points.  
2nd: Honda SH 300i - 5 points.

Special Series
1st: MV Agusta F4CC - 15 points.  
2nd: MV Agusta Brutale 910R - 5 points.

Prototypes
1st: Benelli 2ue 756 - 9 points.  
2nd: Bimota Tesi 3D Concept - 5 points.

The international Jury also decided to assign two Special Awards to the Piaggio MP3 and to the Kymco Bring 125.

The awards ceremony will take place in the Sala Appiani of the Arena in Milan this coming June 13.  The most beautiful bikes of 2007 will be later presented in Shanghai, where they will receive an important accolade from the Chinese motor press.

Casey Stoner, rider for the Ducati Marlboro Team has successfully landed his 3rd win for the 2007 season of the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix (MotoGP) at the Shanghai International Circuit in China.

Stoner has impressively beaten the 5-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi aboard his rachine machine, the Ducati Desmosedici GP7 equipped with quality emission parts. The Australian rider now obtained his lead up to 15 points for the World Championship with a total of 86 points. This was a great start for the team.

According to Livio Suppo, Ducati MotoGP Project Manager: "Another unbelievable race! The bike was great, the tyres were great and Casey did another fantastic job out there today. Again, this victory is a big tribute to the all people involved, from everyone at Ducati to our technical partners Bridgestone and Shell Advance. Loris once again showed that he is a real fighter who never gives up. Leading the World Championship like this is a dream come true for all of us and now we just want to keep working to keep the dream alive."

The current point leader, Casey Stoner said:"If last year someone had told me that at this point of the season I would have won three races I would have laughed! Anyway, today was another perfect day. I really want to say thank you to Ducati, to Vittoriano Guareschi of the test team, and to Bridgestone and to all the sponsors who have given me this opportunity. The pace of the race was incredibly fast and we were really quick on the straights. Again we were able to take this advantage and I could just stay at the front with the lap times we were doing. The only difficult part of the track for me this weekend was the turn before the back straight where I couldn’t turn so well but we worked a lot on this until we found better exit speed." commented Stoner.

Stoner added some remarks about his victory in Shanghai: "During the race I concentrated on the lap times which weren’t that easy but I could do them okay. During the closing stages, when I had less fuel load, the tyres started working even better. I’m really happy with Bridgestone - we expected higher temperatures for the race and that’s what happened, which is why we ran a harder rear and we were really safe with it. I knew Valentino was behind so I just concentrated and didn’t make many mistakes. I was expecting a big fight during the last two laps but after he made his mistake I was able to control the race. It was another fantastic race, like Qatar and Turkey, but we aren’t changing our way of thinking. We are working hard, taking it race by race and doing our best every time".

Meanwhile, his team mate, Loris Capirossi, concluded the race earning the 6th spot despite his injury from the qualifying race. Capirossi also commented: "We had a difficult Saturday and the crash in qualifying was simply a shame because we had to start so far back on the grid. I was in the middle of the first lap accident but I was able to escape getting involved. Anyway, I had problems when braking all through the race, so I couldn’t attack."

Capirossi added: "I could only try to defend my position and finish at the front of my group. I got ten points, which isn’t much but they are something. I’m eighth on points while Casey and Valentino are way in front but I’m not so far back from third position, so I’ll just keep my head down and try to improve my feeling with this bike which is obviously a winning machine. Also, the tires were very good today, so we just have to keep working hard."

Well, find out if Casey Stoner could once again win in the upcoming race in France on May 20th.