Ducati: The Racing Pedigree of a Motorcycle Brand
With MotoGP Champion Valentino Rossi’s recent move from Yamaha to Ducati, it has recently put the spotlight on this very famous motorcycle company. From humble beginnings to becoming a world famous racing brand, Ducati has made it big. It seems that this Italian company is in the same league as Ferrari in Formula 1 racing - both companies only produce the most powerful and beautifully engineered vehicles in their respective fields. Unlike other companies that participate in both Formula 1 and MotoGP such as Honda, Ducati only concentrates on one job. The coming years will see a lot more victories and memorable performances from this pedigree racing company.
Ducati actually started out as a radio manufacturer. Adriano Ducati, the son of founder Antonio Cavalieri Ducati, was a radio engineer who pioneered in short wave radio technology. Ducati came into being in 1926 and it was initially an engineering company. The company started to do really well and as the years progressed, the company got bigger and more profitable. World War II began which destroyed Ducati’s factory in Italy. Due to severe financial problems, the company was bought by the Italian government. It was under the ownership of the Italian government that the company started to diversify. In 1946, Ducati created an engine that could fit onto bicycles. Sales for these small 50 CC engines were very good and the seeds of motorcycle building were sown. Under the guidance of Fabio Taglioni, the company started making motorcycles. The first motorcycle that was produced by Ducati was the 100 CC Grand Sport Marianna. This bike started a long line of exquisite racing bikes from the company.
It seems Ducati was bent on developing very fast, well engineered racing bikes from the very beginning. The year 1952 saw the introduction of the Cruiser 175CC motorcycle which was one of the earliest and best selling models that the company produced. In the 1960’s, Ducati expanded its line of engines to include a 250 CC bike to its production line. The 250 CC engine was put into the Aurea, Diana and Monza bikes. These bikes started to become very popular in America and people started to compete with each other which saw Ducati start featuring heavily in Italian domestic racing. In 1983, the company faced financial difficulties and it was sold to the Cagiva Group and the new ownership took the company into the superbike era. From that point onwards, Ducati started producing very powerful racing superbikes. The most famous and well known bike of the Ducati stable, the ‘916’ debuted in 1994. It brought with it a revolution in motorcycle performance and design and was an instant success with Italian customers. Ducati once again faced financial difficulties in 1995 and it was then bought by the Texas Pacific Group. This turned out to be a very good thing for the company because it brought a strong management and solid financial backing to the firm. Today, Ducati is continuing to flourish and is a well known and respected superbike manufacturer in the sport of motorcycle racing.
Recently, a new page turned in Ducati’s racing history when Valentino Rossi decided to leave Yamaha to join Ducati. This is going to be an unstoppable team as the world’s best motorcycle manufacturer has joined hands with the world’s best rider. So, will anyone be able to stop them? Rossi has signed a two year deal with his new team and is very excited about the prospect of an Italian racing team employing an Italian rider. He thinks it will be a great thing for all Italian fans out there. Even though he enjoyed a wonderful time with the Japanese Yamaha team, he thinks that the situation has changed a lot for him as he was looking for an exit. He found it in a home grown team, the fact that it just happened to be Ducati made the deal so much sweeter.
The future looks extremely bright for Ducati, especially now that they have Rossi on board. If he could take an almost unknown team and turn them into champions, one has to wonder what he will do for Ducati. This company will continue to grow and will keep on producing the world’s best racing bikes.
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