Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126635
Ducati 600 TT2 road racer test • • By Alan Ca t hca rt Phot os b y Fra nco Regg ian i & Ca thcart It was the Monday before the World Cup soccer final, and Italy-the future champions - were playing hot favori tes Brazil in a quarter-final game that nobody expected th em to win. Even so it seemed th e en tire populatio'n of Ital y . . was en grossed In w~ tchIng th e match. Every cafe with a TV set 36 had people sp ill ing o n to th e roa dways 10 peek a long-di stance view; fact or ies sh ut do wn in the face o f m assi ve a bse nteeis m; stree ts wer e deserted o f tr affic. a nd even th e carabinieri were nowhere 10 be seen . And yet h ere I was, mounted o n another kind o f World Champion , lapping the Misano GP circuit -in to tal so litude o n the ride of a lifet im e in the 90 degree h eat of the It al ian su m mer. I was a boa rd the works 600 Tr2 Ducati, o ne of th e five factor y spec ia ls th at in 1982 rep eat ed th eir success of th e previous yea r by win ni ng th e World 'TT F2 title wi th Britai n's Tony Rutter in th e h OI seat wi th the back in g of Sports Mot o r Cycles, and the p res tigious It al ian Tr2 series in th e ha nds o f works pilot Wa lter Cuss igh. In eac h case, the littl e Du ca ti ac hieved a g ra nd sla m of th e respective championship, both rid ers win- ni ng every ro und convi nci ng ly agains t far from negl igibl e o p posi tion. which in Ruuer 's case incl uded thinl y o r undisguised T Z350 Yarn ahas. Boxin g fans lik e to pi ck th e fighter wh o pound for p ound th ey rat e as best in the wo rl d irrespective o f weigh t. On th e sa me ba sis, th e 600 Tr2 Ducati , a lrea dy in vinci ble in i ts class, ' mu st h ave a strong claim to bei ng th e king of the racing bike wo rld regardl ess of capacity o r for m ul a. Befor e yo u dis m iss suc h co m me nt as th e preposterous ravin gs of a h opeless Du cati frea k (which I ad m it to being eve n befo re I rode th e Tr2!), co ns ider th is: a sleeved down version ridden by last year's It alian Tr2 cha mp Massim o Broccoli finish ed sevent h in the final ro und o f th e It al ia n 500 series a t Mu gell o last Octo ber, ahead o f two dozen assorted RG 500 Suzu kis a nd OW Yamahas ridden by the lik es of_. European cha m p io n Leand ro Bech eron i. Not co nvi nced? Well . th en there was Jimmy Ad am o o n a stretche d 750 version fini sh in g 13th in th e Im ola 200 last April an d passing RG500s and H onda superbikes. Still n ot? Th en yo u must look a t T on y Rutter 's a mazing new Isle of Man TT F2lap reco rd o f 109.27 mph as h e wo n this yea r's 'TT a t a speed which wou ld h ave given him third pl a ce in th e 1000cc FI event - inci dentall y flying th rough th e speed traps a t 144 mph , co m pared to th e 152 m ph o f th e factory H ondas with 40% larger eng ines . T he bike I was riding was Cussigh's machin e. o n which he'd j ust cli nc he d h is ti tle a t Misano th e p revio us day with a flag-t o-flag win . Factory raci ng boss Franco Farn eh imself a form er wo rk s rider of so me di stinction, a nd n ow th e right-hand man o f legendary Ducati designer In g. Fabio T agl ioni-was on hand to